Smile
by Undead Artist
Summary: Harry, twin brother of the BWL, vanished without a trace at the age of five. Meet Smile, an awkward young man out of touch with what's right and what's wrong. He was once the lover of the Dark Lord but now fights to destroy the one who wronged him. Maincharacter is bisexual.
1. Chapter 1

**General Informative Shit:** Smile is bisexual. Ergo: attracted to both men and women.

**Warning(s): **It's M-rated, you don't get much more of a warning than that.

**Reader Worthy Info:** If you review six chapters in a row with five sentences or more in each I will write a one-shot of your choice for you. Imagine that, huh.

**Smile**

_The red clown said, "My prince, please enjoy my show." And so, he laughed._

_The blue clown said, "My prince, please enjoy my show." And so, he cried._

_The yellow clown said, "My prince, please enjoy my show." And so, he clapped his hands._

_Later the prince said, "Clowns, please teach me your skills."_

_**Chapter 1**_

**Where Dining Tables Makes Excellent Beds**

He was a nameless being carrying only titles with him. A six foot shadow of a young man with pale skin, midnight black hair and eyes glowing eerily green. His ears were black scaled, long and pointed and stuck out past the green headband with smiling faces drawn in white grinning sharply at the world with black hair sticking out messily around it.

His dark jeans were tight but creased to allow movement and over grey socks he wore a pair of dark green boots tightly snared and tied with a pretty bow on the top. A matching dark green turtleneck hid most of his upper body but revealed his slim built and a gun holster hung clasped to his right thigh and belt.

A monster and a murdered, a creature of the night, they came to call him Smile.

His ears twitched as he moved through the streets of London, eyes sweeping across the buildings and taking note of the streets names as he navigated down the darker paths. The house he sought was the old Black house which had been rumored to have been taken up by the Order of the Phoenix as their headquarters.

Bellatrix had told him about it during a fit of insanity, laughing wildly as she claimed she couldn't even remember the name of her childhood house as she choked and hiccupped and begged for forgiveness.

They were two sides of a coin, Smile and Bellatrix. She had been in charge of his childhood years, hiding him away from the world while crooning over him as she mourning the loss of her own son. Rodolphus had never liked him and when he'd turned ten the man had booted him out with as much as an explanation and Bellatrix had landed herself in Azkaban.

It was by chance he had come across her and he'd been surprised she'd remembered him despite the changes he'd gone through the past six almost seven years. He had stayed in her house for a month before he'd left to avoid catching the attention of her master.

Smile had much higher ambitions than following the whims and wishes of a madman.

He slowed his steps, coming to a halt as he survived the street before him. The houses of Grimmauld Street were boringly alike – black and dark with dirty windows and the occasional light flaring in the windows and blue doors. He could see moving shadows on number four and his enchanted vision picked up the way the man clutched the woman's hips in a bruising grip as he pounded her against a desk and his ears twitched as the sound of her shrieking moans desperately muffled against slim fingers.

Smile tilted his head, counting the numbers down the street and noting that a number was missing but when he tried to think of it in relation to the street his mind went painfully blank. The papers in the back of his pocket proclaimed him the owner of number 5, the house to the right of the fucking couple. It placed him as a distance away from the could-be headquarter and would allow him to operate without much suspicion. They were less likely to take notice of him so far away than if he'd taken up residence in number 10 and that's how Smile preferred it.

The house was bare save for the most basic of necessities and was gloomy and dark without working electricity. His eyes adjusted, allowing him to study the small mahogany decorated hallway and he threw his keys into a waiting bowl to his left. There was a pair of creaky stairs further down the hall to the left and a kitchen to the right with a fridge and freezer painted green that had obviously seen their best years. The table was large and blue with matching chairs in an obviously failed attempt at adding some life to the room.

The walls were bare and as Smile made his way to the living room he counted out the holes in the walls and studied the peeling walls, wondering vaguely if he should make it a pet project to clean it up somewhat while he stayed.

The couch in the living room made him cover nose from the smell and prevented him from exploring any more of the lower floor. He made a quick inventory of the upper floor, checking out the four rooms and the dusty scrub and not even daring to check out either bathroom on lower or upper floor. There were stairs leading to a third floor but it smelled suspiciously like something had been left to die upstairs for months and he wasn't in the mood to deal with it so late.

Deciding to take care of it all following morning Smile made his way to the kitchen which was by far the most decent smelling and sprawled himself out in the kitchen table after kicking off his shoes and pulling off his shirt and throwing it against one of the chairs. The large windows had the blinds pulled up and allowed him a perfect view of the moon up above.

The clock on the wall beside the kitchen entrance steadily fought on, struggling arrows hitting three am as Smile counted the stars.

He didn't remember falling asleep but when the clock hit nine Smile rolled off the kitchen table and onto the floor as loud banging was issued on the window above him. Blinking he peered up and out to see a red haired boy some years older than himself staring at him in surprise. Pulling his shirt on Smile climbed back onto the table and managed to crack the window open as the man stepped aside.

The first word that came to mind was _cool._ The red-head looked like a typical muggle punk with his band shirt and black jeans with a white belt with various little comments cheekily scrawled onto it. Smile, however, recognized the boots on his feet to be made of dragon hide and he knew enough about the Weasley's to name him by name. Bill was the oldest boy in the family who had moved back from Egypt to London to work at Gringotts now that the war was becoming more of an issue. His long red hair and dragon fang earring was a dead giveaway.

Smile tilted his head at the man who looked sheepish. "Sorry about that. I saw you sprawled out in the kitchen table and thought the worse." Bill admitted to him.

Smile blinked vaguely in surprise, mouth twitching when he realized he must have been mistaken for being dead.

That happened surprisingly often to him.

"It's alright – it was about time I got up anyway." He scratched the back of his head. "I just moved in here and the house needs to be taken care of. Desperately." He wrinkled his nose, recalling the smells that had been issuing from the couch as well as through the bathrooms doors.

"If it's anything like our house I feel for you." Bill said empathically. "Names Bill. Bill Weasley."

"Vincent Price." Smile held out his hand.

"Any relation to _the _Vincent Price?" Bill cocked an eyebrow. "Should I check your laugh?"

Smile huffed. "I bet my parents were smoking something when they named me. As far as I'm aware, no relation."

This didn't really mean much when you were talking to someone who didn't know anything about their life before the age of six, of course. But the name was fake either way and he had chosen it exactly for the reason that it was average enough but still diverted attention from him by pointing to someone else.

"I'd invite you in for tea but I don't actually have anything in the house at the moment." Although, he had heard been the suspect sound of rats in the walls which he were to deal with later…

Bill didn't look impressed. "Not even breakfast?"

"None. It is all terribly empty here." Smile said honestly.

"What about your parents?" Bill asked skeptically as he peered past Smile into the kitchen.

"Dead since some years back. It's my uncle who sent me here after he got tired of me taking up space." A lie, but a necessary one.

Bill eyed him for a moment before pointing a finger at him. "Stay." He said, before slinking down the street towards number 11. Smile knew they were using it as a way to avoid suspicion and there were likely a way connecting number 11 and number – his mind blanketed out again and he shook his head in annoyance. The Fidilius was one of the strongest charms out there and were only handled by the best since if done wrong it could wipe away everything from a person's mind. It was the third time he'd come across it and he found it just as annoying as he had first time.

While Bill did… something… Smile put his shoes back on and kicked the front door open after hiding his gun. The couch had to be dealt with; the smell had caused him to stay awake well past five before he finally managed to filter it out somewhat. Grabbing hold of the dusty thing Smile wrinkled his nose and began dragging it towards the front door.

There was a brief struggle past the small mahogany table by the door but Smile was nothing if not persistent and hefting it up on his shoulders he braced himself and made it tip forward and over him. The back foot nearly sent the wobbly thing falling but Smile caught it just before it fell, stabilizing it with one foot while awkwardly making his way forward with the other. From there he only had to shove the rest of it outside and as the front feet hooked into the ground Smile kept pushing until it tipped over upside down, like a pitiful old sock smelling turtle groaning out its last breath.

Smile watched it with much satisfaction.

Digging forth the pen and paper he always carried around he proceeded to scrawl down the most important things that needed to be dealt with before the house would be livable:

1. Get cleaning stuff.

2. Clean stuff.

3. Buy food.

4. Kill the rat before it can take the food.

5. Get paint.

6. Paint stuff.

7. Get basic decoration stuff.

8. Clothes.

There was a knock on his front door and Smile opened it up for Bill who looked as if he'd had half a kitchen table shoved with him as well as another red-head who had to be Charlie who was carrying the same amount but seemed to be faring better. A robust, thick skinned man with a blue t-shirt and casual jeans and shorts messy hair. His skin had old burns and Smile knew Charlie worked with dragons in Romania. He hadn't known the second oldest Weasley had returned home as well but it didn't surprise him either.

"Sorry about this but Mom was very persistent when she found out you lived here on your own." Bill said as he stepped past Smile without as much as an invitation, food wobbling dangerously. "My brother Charlie had to help me get it here."

"I would be a fool to say that I mind it. My taste buds would never forgive me, this smells absolutely delicious." Smile's stomach rumbled in reminder that it had been some three days since he last ate.

Anyone else in his position might have been wary about accepting food but there were actually few toxins that actually worked on his body thanks to his dear _Doctor_ who was solely responsible for the enchantments made to his body and who Smile harbored a great loathing for.

Smile helped Bill unload his cargo before turning to Charlie to do the same. Bill took the chance to look around while he did and Smile pretended not to mind. Most likely Charlie had been sent along to help Bill check out their new neighbor to make sure he wasn't some Death Eater in disguise.

"Are you doing all of this today?" Bill asked in interest as he scanned over his list.

"As much as I can, yes." Smile said as he gave the fridge a kick to jumpstart it with a satisfying hum. "Not much else to do here until I got the house under control."

"Well, I think you can erase getting food for now at least and focus on the other stuff." Bill said as he reached out to catch a peach that had been in the danger of tumbling of the table. "And we should get the cleaning and painting supplies at the same time to avoid having to take a second trip. Also, Charlie and I should be able to dig forth some of our old stuff lying around to use as we paint to avoid getting it all over our good clothes."

"Us?" Smile echoed in amusement. "That an offering I hear?"

While his plans of introductions and greetings had been thrown off by Bill and now Charlie Smile wasn't daunted in the slightest and was actually quite smug about this outcome. If Bill and Charlie were to go with him to get the supplies they would be lead to the muggle part of London and they would be satisfied for now to cross him off the list of suspected-to-be-Death Eaters and sign him along the lines of their-new-if-somewhat-odd-muggle-neighbor which was what Smile wanted.

Smile wasn't interested in the war. It was true that he didn't like Death Eaters in general and very few were an exception to that rule but it wasn't like he had some hero worship for Albus Dumbledore's side either. He did, however, had some business to clear out with Tom who had overstepped far too many lines and invaded him in a way that Smile had trouble shaking away.

And he needed the Order of the Phoenix for that.

And so Vincent Price came into existence.

Smile didn't really know what his real name was or anything about his parents or, really, the six first years of his life so he was going out on a limb here creating this new existence. He had grown up spending some four years on the streets and in and out of a Death Eater home, another four as a labrat and two years working in the underworld. He had no _grasp_ of how regular people interacted or was with each other since he had no real friends or people he interacted daily or even weekly with.

The charming Tom Riddle and Bellatrix as well as Rodolphus, to an extent, had been the only exceptions and they weren't exactly people you'd call sane-

In a way, he craved it. He wanted to know these two red-heads standing in his kitchen that had brought him food and was offering to make this house resembling something of a home. But he also knew the deception would come back to bite him in the arse sooner or later because he had done some horrible things that he needed to atone for. He had no illusions about hiding forever – he was planning on infiltrating a house filled with clever people and he was only sixteen no matter his background.

He had already almost slipped up with his ears which fortunately blended into his hair and which he had layered a very weak illusion over – the kind that made it look like a regular ear but didn't feel like a regular ear. People would undoubtedly take notice if he did anything more extreme than that and he knew he had to be incredible cautious about Mad-Eye Moody whose eye was rumored to be able to see through anything.

For now, Smile would do what he did best – act and learn.

"If you'll have us?" There was a challenge in Bill's eyes and Smile could see Charlie looking over at him as well from the corner of his eyes.

"As long as you aren't afraid of tackling the toilets with me. I can feel the stench crawling all the way here like some thick murky cloud of toxic smell." He bit down on an apple, shuddering.

He got to finish his apple and bring a sandwich along with him as they set out to get the things they would need. Smile had already marked out the shops they would need as he made his way to his new home last night and it was some twenty minutes on foot back and forth.

"How many are you?" Smile asked the two brothers, butting in then they had finished some kind of silent ribbing between each other and he'd managed to fumble up some decent small-talk question. "Siblings, I mean." He elaborated at their inquisitive looks.

"Seven." Charlie said with a grin. "There's me and Bill of course, we're t he oldest. And then our younger brother Percy and twin brothers' Fred and George and then Ron and finally our little sister Ginny."

He whistled lowly. "An only girl of seven, I don't envy her." Smile shook his head, knowing that he really did envy her but saying nothing about it.

"What about your family?" Bill asked curiously. "I mean, is your uncle married or…?"

Smile shook his head. "No wife, no kids – just me."

"How old are you?" Charlie butted in. "I mean, you must be around Fred and George's age – eighteen or so?"

"Just turned eighteen, old enough for him to legally kick me out with repercussions." A lie, he was sixteen but he could count the number of people who knew his real age on one hand. Eighteen was just more convenient and his height helped him in that department.

"Sounds like a wonderful person." Charlie said dryly, shaking his head. "You're probably better off without him."

Smile hummed.

Bill and Charlie must have been somewhat used to the muggle world because they didn't look painfully out of place or lost when Smile requested them to pick something up for him. They sorted the things between them and amused themselves by picking out a bunch of flashy colors and arguing where they would look best.

Charlie in particular was looking particular smug when they made their way back.

Both brothers were considerably more relaxed with him and Smile suppressed a flinch as Bill slapped him on his shoulder and grinning proclaimed that he was on his way to make the strangest house of the neighborhood. "Fred and George will hate having missed out on this when we tell them, eh, Charlie?" Bill laughed.

They made Smile wait outside number 11 while they vanished inside to pick up some old rags to use as they painted.

Wind ruffled his hair, sweeping the unruly strands to the side and rustling his headband. He squinted up towards the sky, trying not to look miserably out of place with buckets of paint and cleaning supply hanging off him like a Christmas tree.

"You must be Vincent." Charlie and Bill had brought with them a plump red-haired woman who had to be the mother Weasley. She smiled kindly at him, an armful of old trousers and shirts in her arms. "I'm Bill and Charlie's mother; you can call me Molly if you want." She offered him, eyeing his thin body critically. "I was a bit unsure what would fit you when they described you but this should make do…" She extracted a pair of shorts and what had to be one of Bill's old band shirts.

Smile nodded his head. "Thank you." He said sincerely. "They'll be perfect Molly."

"Are you sure?" She asked anxiously. "Because I can always get some new-" Smile shook his head.

"You have already done enough for me Molly. The food was a blessing and this even more and now I'm borrowing your sons to work for me. I am grateful." He said honestly.

The woman flushed faintly while Bill shook his head in exasperation from his right. "No flirting with our mom, Vince."

Smile flushed. "Oh, I didn't – I mean, she's attractive and all but I wouldn't-" he realized Molly's cheeks had only grown darker and both Bill and Charlie was vibrating with laughter and shut his mouth with a faint flush of pink.

"Oh stop teasing him you two." Molly came to his rescue, smiling warmly at him with her cheeks still faintly red. "He was merely being polite."

Smile decided it was safer not to comment on that and merely mumbled his thanks again and with a faint bow escaped towards his house. Bill and Charlie lingered for a second which allowed him to sort out the things they'd bought and sketch down the color scheme they'd decided on.

PAINTING PLANS:

First floor:

Kitchen: yellow

Hallway: yellow

Living room: red.

Bathroom: black tiles.

Stairway walls: orange.

Second floor:

Master bedroom: pink.

2nd bedroom: blue.

3rd bedroom: red.

Hallway: purple

Bathroom: black tiled.

The third floor would be left alone for now since Smile had no real need for it at the moment but he was quite satisfied with how things were looking up and the color scheme had to lighten up the house from its gloomy state. Smile had always liked colors. The white of the labs, the dark walls of Bellatrix's house and the grey concrete of the streets wasn't something he looked back on with fond memories.

"Vince?" He glanced backwards with a start – realizing he'd been staring into air and Bill was looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "You ready to begin?"

"Yes… Yes, of course." He held out the list to Bill and Charlie for approval and after a brief discussion they set to work.

It was hard work and even with windows and door wide-open the warmth of the summer sun was scorching and sweat ran down their backs. Both Bill and Charlie must have been used to it but Bill more than Charlie because the younger red-head was the first to cave and with a growl pull his shirt over his head and throw it away in disgust.

Bill shook his head and did the same and Smile, guessing this was some kind of paint-bonding-thing mirrored the action by shrugging off the old band shirt he'd borrowed and dumped it to the floor.

He did not miss how two pair of eyes sought out his inner left wrist and froze for a moment before Bill leaned closer to look at the roman number tattooed into his flesh.

"VII." He read out loud. "7, is it supposed to mean something?"

It's what he called me, Smile thought to himself. My number in the lab – what I was known as for years.

This he did not say out loud.

"I just like the number." He said instead. "It brings me luck." Badluck, he thought privately.

"Lucky number seven." Charlie commented and snorted.

Smile merely shrugged.

It was around noon when Molly arrived armed with fresh cool lemonade with floating cubes of ice which Charlie and Bill were over in a second and gulping down hurriedly. Smile dropped the brush of green paint and hesitantly hovered in the background, entirely unsure how he was supposed to proceed.

Molly lifted the last large glass and held it out for him. "Here you go, Vincent." She smiled kindly at him.

"Thank you." He said somewhat awkwardly, taking the glass and drinking it with relish once the first cool tip hit his tongue. It was rare that he indulged in something else than water and the lemonade tasted simply superb and made his taste buds throw a celebration inside his mouth and demand more. He held out his glass and brightened when Molly refilled it for him instead of taking it away.

She stayed while they finished up the last of the lower floor. It had been thoroughly cleaned and painted in bright colors and Smile looked around in satisfaction. He'd take the upper floor tomorrow – for now he was quite satisfied with the work and thankful for the help.

Sure, he could have used magic but there was something about doing things on his own that brought enormous satisfaction on his part.

While magic was convenient it wasn't something he used habitually like the rest of the magical population. Smile liked to think he indulged himself the old fashioned way. It had certainly driven Tom up the walls in frustration when he'd refused to apparated when there were things like legs or busses or cars or bikes to get them around.

"Thank you for the help." Smile said finally when they had gotten their things and were about to leave. The walls were wet and he wasn't to touch them and the upper floor wasn't done so in all likelihood he'd spend the night on the kitchen table again. Smile didn't mind much, there were worse places to wake up on. Like gurneys or coffins…

Smile decided that he wouldn't think about that and instead focused on Molly, Bill and Charlie – the trio of red-heads who had spent their day comfortably in his apartment.

"We'll see you tomorrow." Bill grinned at him. "Eight work with you?"

Smile tilted his head to the side, surprised although he didn't like to admit it. "You don't have to, you know. You have already helped me plenty and it shouldn't take all that long to finish up the last."

Charlie shook his head. "Don't worry about it kid, we had fun and it certainly beats sitting around the house doing nothing." He reached out, patting Smile on the shoulder who tensed automatically from the contact but forced himself to relax. "Besides, I need to be there when you order your decorations for your room – you promise to match, right?"

"If anything I'll have you to make sure, no?" Smile shot back and Charlie laughed.

"I'll turn your room into a pink paradise." The older one swore, grinning brightly at the prospect.

"It was nice meeting you, dear." Molly told him next, smiling. "I heard Bill caught you sleeping on the kitchen table – you know that's not good for your back, right?"

Smile shook his head. "Don't worry about me." He said. "The rooms will be done tomorrow and I'll get a good proper bed then."

"Good." It looked like she wanted to do something else but finally shook her head and left. Charlie waved goodbye and vanished after her.

Bill, however, lingered for a moment much to Smile's bemusement. "You might if we bring someone else along tomorrow?" He said at last.

"Not at all."

"Good." Bill looked relived. "I thought we'd bring along an expert eye for your shopping trip tomorrow."

"Who is it that you talk about?" Smile asked curiously.

Bill, however, merely shook his head. "It's a surprise. Take care. I'll knock on your window at eight." He winked before he too left.

Smile wondered if he'd managed to establish himself a bad reputation already as a table sleeper.

It brought a warm fuzzy feeling to his stomach.

**Smile**

"He's a good kid." Bill said at the end of the order meeting that night.

"Completely lost when it comes to social interactions but he makes do." Charlie added, tipping his chair back so that it was resting on its hindlegs.

"He doesn't like being touched though and it is likely that his uncle didn't treat him kindly." Bill mused. "He doesn't have a dark mark and he knows his way around muggle stores. I wouldn't class him as a threat all things considered– odd, perhaps, but not a threat."

"Besides," Charlie grinned, "he's allowing us to paint his room _pink._ He said he actually liked the color!"

"What's wrong with pink?" Nymphadora Tonks demanded from his right, her bubble gum pink hair standing out like a sore thumb in the kitchen of number 13 Grimmauld Place.

"Nothing!" Charlie said quickly. "But you'd never think he's the kind of guy who likes it though. If anything he looks like a vampire minus the fangs. All black and green."

"Do you think he's magical?" James Potter asked from the end of the table beside his wife and two children.

Bill and Charlie exchanged glances. "It's actually hard to tell." Charlie said at last. "He didn't react to our names but for all the things he knew he could have been living beneath a rock. You should have seen him when Mom brought him lemonade. Might as well have brought him a bottle of bubbling blood if his reaction was anything to go on."

Bill turned to Fleur. "I thought you could come along tomorrow just to be on the safe side. You're much more sensitive to magic than anyone else here."

"Of course." The one quarter veela agreed. "I will look forward to meeting this Vincent Price."


	2. Chapter 2

**General Informative Shit:** Today I fell out of my bed, had a near-death experience because of my vacuum and accidentally hit a cactus.

**Warning(s): **It's M-rated, you don't get much more of a warning than that.

**Reader Worthy Info:** My reviewers absolutely rule.

**Smile**

_Closing your eyes isn't going to change anything. __Nothing's going to disappear just because you can't see what's going on. In fact, things will even be worse the next time you open your eyes.__That's the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. __Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won't make time stand still._

**_Chapter 2_**

**Where Smile Talks to a Flower**

Smile woke up before Bill and Charlie had arrived the following morning. It was early, only seven pm and a good hour before they had promised to swing on by. Rubbing his eyes he tiredly he squinted out the window at the sun that had interrupted his morning and swore to get some proper curtains later that very day. While he'd be getting a bed the drying smell of paint wouldn't be very pleasant on the upper floor where it was harder to air and it was likely to smell very stuffy after they were done. The kitchen smelled reasonable fresh after keeping windows and doors wide open.

It had been somewhat of a surprise to find an old black piano in the living room which had taken a good hour to clean out and while somewhat scratched and dented (well-loved, Charlie had remarked) there was nothing wrong with it except that it was in need of some tuning which he'd promised himself to invest some time in. He'd never played the piano before but considering how much time he'd spend in his new house he considered it something of a bonus.

There were some old shelves which he'd managed to salvage from Bill who had been eyeing them disapprovingly and a smooth mahogany table which he'd decided to keep as it was. Essentially he'd need a new couch, matching chairs and a lamp.

The upper floor he'd decided to leave entirely in Bill and Charlie's hand with the exception of his room which he wanted a say in. But they had some great ideas and it had gone entirely over Smile's head who had never even entertained the idea of decorating the house again. He was feeling surprisingly… normal, doing so.

He had even snuck in a decorating magazine from the store.

Pouring himself some milk from a jug he found in his fridge he made some quick scrambled eggs on a toast and opened the small magazine up. It wasn't anything he had ever indulged himself for but he found himself quickly caught by the beautiful rooms, fingers gently touching the gleaming walls and sparkling furniture standing out from the pages.

The toast lay half-eaten beside him by the time Bill appeared.

The red-head grinned at the amusing picture the gothic teen made studying some muggle make-do magazine like some old lady. All he needed was some cats. "Find anything interesting?"

The boy didn't jump, instead he turned the magazine around and pointed down on the page he'd been glued to when the red-head had let himself in through the unlocked door. Bill hitched an eyebrow in surprise at the feminine room displayed across both pages with "DREAM HOME" scrawled in cursive white letters above it.

It would demand some rerouting of the general plan Bill acknowledged as he studied it but the general over all feel of it shouldn't be too hard to copy. He said as much to Vincent who looked quite delighted which was a change from his overall quiet demeanor. As it was Bill had yet to see the younger one smile but he'd noticed from the start that Vincent's eyes were the most telling. They gave an overall feel of what kind of mood he happened to be in.

"Ready to get everything swinging?" Charlie said enthusiastically when he stepped through the door some ten minutes later. "We're painting the upper floors, pick up Fleur and then stroll off for a relaxing shopping tour in that order, right?"

The lack of furniture in the house had turned out to be something of a blessing. Some quick intense cleaning and swaddling up the floor in paper and they could get painting. The bathrooms had been cleaned but Smile had decided to take care of them on his own later on after he'd gotten the toilets replaced with something less… unsanitary.

The optimistic time plan was to finish up around three.

"Fleur?" Smile echoed as he shouldered his new vacuum.

"My girlfriend." Bill said fondly. "I asked if she could come along with us yesterday, do you remember?"

"I do. I was just surprised. I thought you were talking about bringing along some flower which just seemed weird. I don't know anyone who carries around potted plants." Smile told them honestly.

Bill and Charlie spoke a lot about their brothers. About how Percy had become distant as of late because of his work and stubbornness and Fred and George who had opened up a store which was becoming very successful. They spoke of Ron whose chess skills were something legendary in their family and who had a famous friend he struggled not to fall in the shadow of and Ginny, an intelligent spit-fire who didn't fold for just anyone.

They spoke vaguely about Hogwarts, mentioning that it was a fancy boarding school that looked like a large castle. That they were sorted into houses and could win points for answering questions and helping each other out.

Smile listened with interest. He had never been to school in his life but if there was one school he'd always wanted to go to it was Hogwarts. From the moment he discovered magic and stepped into the magical world Hogwarts had been his goal. But he was sixteen now and that dream was long past. Visiting Hogwarts was, however, on his top 10 list of things he wanted to do before dying.

Smile liked making lists.

"Hey, Vince – you ever watched a wizard pull a rabbit out of a hat?" Charlie asked mischievously from above him on a ladder.

Bill made a panicked gesture behind Vincent's back as the tall teen straightened up from his crouched position. _"Are you insane?"_ He mouthed furiously to Charlie but his younger brother didn't spare him a glance.

"I can't say I have." Vincent said as he flickered a fringe of escaped black strands away from his eyes. "You like magic shows?"

"Oh, I must certainly do." Charlie's voice was heavy with implication that Vincent didn't seem to grasp and Bill stopped making gestures behind his back but grew no less tense. "Especially the vanishing and disappearing acts or the one when they're tied up under water and yet somehow manage to escape." As he spoke the ladder beneath his wobbled precariously as he reached out to paint the corner of the wall but he steadied it expertly.

"There are tricks, of course." Vincent said absently. "Hidden keys, special knots, illusionary tricks… Everything they do can be explained in some way."

Bill and Charlie exchanged glances. "True." Charlie admitted. "But I've always liked the thought of _real_ magic being out there somewhere."

"He was quite the avid fan of Houdini when he was younger." Bill forced himself to relax. "It poisoned his mind."

"Did not!" Charlie looked affronted. "Just because you can't see the genius of a great magical man performing right before you!"

"Are you talking about your card trick again? Because I told you already that I was sorry." Bill said in exasperation.

"You _ruined _it!"

"They were just cards!"

Smile wondered if this were one of those famous sibling disagreements he'd heard about. Concentrating on the wall and the brush going up and down it he listened with one ear as Charlie and Bill argued on unknowing of their new companion being neither a muggle nor as unknowing he'd led them to believe.

**- Smile -**

The first time Smile got to meet Fleur Delacour was three am on the dot that afternoon. They had all removed their shirts like the day before and paint were splattered across their chests and shorts and Charlie had gained himself a green moustache which he wiggled in the direction of the France witch as she swept into the room.

She was tall for a woman, almost Bill's height which made her taller than Charlie by an inch or so. Her hair was white blond and her eyes a keen silvery color and she moved with elegance. Smile watched the hem of her white dress moving enticingly around the knees of her long legs as she stepped into the room, kissing a paint free part of Bill's cheek in greeting before turning towards him.

"Hello," she said to him and there was a hint of a French accent in her voice. "My name is Fleur Delacour. I believe Bill mentioned I would be coming along today." She held out her hand.

Smile wiped his hand carefully his pants before he reached out to shake it. "Vincent Price," he introduced himself carefully.

This woman was dangerous, Smile thought to himself as she turned to greet Charlie. Not only was she a veela who were naturally more attuned to magic but she was also intelligent and had been one of the champions in the Triwizard Tournament. Not just anyone was chosen for that kind of thing and Smile found himself unsure how to proceed. She intimidated him by being so at home, so at ease, in his house while he felt suddenly awkward and out of place.

Smile had a hard time with humans in general – women even more so. Men, at least, he could understand to a certain extent but when it came to women he might as well have been introduced to an alien.

He shifted awkwardly when her eyes focused back on him, eyeing him critically. "You're rather scrawny," she stated. "Tall, slim, steady shoulders…" she stepped closer and reached out to sweep black strands away from his eyes as Smile struggled not to flinch. "Such an odd color," she mused. "They work wonders for you though." She withdrew her hand and Smile was relieved when she focused back on Bill. "How long until you're done?"

The red-head scratched the back of his head, eyeing the room critically. "Twenty minutes? Not more than thirty anyway."

"Unless Bill decides to go all goo-goo eyes on you." Charlie teased.

Bill shot him an unimpressed look.

"I can't help that I'm beautiful." Fleur winked at him. "Mr. Price, would you allow me to raid your kitchen while I wait?"

Smile who had gone back to painting startled at being addressed and fumbled to catch his paint brush before it could hit the floor. "Of course, help yourself." He said awkwardly, flushing. "And Vincent's fine."

"Then please call me Fleur." She smiled at him and Smile noticed that it was slightly crooked.

It took five minutes to apply the last of the paint and an additional ten to clean out the papers protecting the floor and store the ladder back into the broom closet they'd found it in. Bill escaped half-way through and Charlie grumbled darkly as he passed the kitchen with his arms filled to the brim with paint covered papers.

They washed up quickly and as Bill had estimated Smile locked his house some twenty minutes after Fleur's appearance.

Before they'd left Fleur had told him to take of his headband and keep the paint splattered shorts on after throwing him another old band shirt of Bill's. Smile, though mystified, had done as she'd said and felt awkward without the green band with the white smiling faces that he was so accustomed to wearing. Smile didn't know where it came from in the first place but he had had it for as long as he could remember. It had become something of a comfort to have it with him.

"So, Vincent – do you have anything in particular in mind for your new wardrobe?" Charlie had slowed his steps to walk beside him while Bill and Fleur continued to talk in front of them. "It's not every day you get to do an entire remake of your wardrobe." The red-head had his hands folded behind his head, looking relaxed beneath the sunshine.

Smile shrugged helplessly. "I just want to keep it practical." Anything else just gets you killed, Rodolphus had told him once.

It was one of the few lessons that Bellatrix's husband had taught him that he'd taken to heart. Rodolphus had walked in on Bellatrix twirling him around in a green dress and had exploded, ripping it to pieces and dragging Smile harshly out of the room with a grip that had left finger printed bruises on his arms. But Rodolphus had also been uncommonly patient with him that night. Explaining how it was the little things that kept you alive and how the two P's were everything to staying alive: practicality and preparation. The man had ended it with a warning of pain if he ever found Smile running around in a dress inside his house.

Smile had heard him screaming later that night. One did not cross Bellatrix Lestrange without retribution. She had the nasty habit of getting back at you tenfold.

"What happened to your old clothes, anyway?" Charlie asked curiously. "You just seem to have popped up from nowhere with nothing. Normally people bring truckloads of stuff with them."

Smile couldn't very well tell him that Tom Riddle was still in possession of his old things. He had left the mansion quite abruptly and had no plans of returning any time soon. Thankfully he had stashed all his money in a muggle account. He rarely indulged himself which had left him enough money to get the house, some basic furniture and new clothes but he would need to get a job on the side. Fortunately he rarely needed food and he had little love for water which would keep his bills to a minimum.

"I don't know." Smile said eventually.

Charlie looked at him oddly. "You don't know?"

"No." Smile confirmed. For all he knew Tom could be cuddling them up at the very moment.

Charlie snorted and Smile startled badly when the man planted a hand on the top of his head and messed up his hair. "You're an odd one, Vinnie." Smile blinked at him, feeling curiously disappointed when Charlie removed his hand.

They surprised him by taking the bus into London. He had expected them to lead him to the closest shop and finish up quickly but Fleur slid into the seat beside him and began asking questions. She wanted to know what he preferred and what he absolutely didn't like and what kind of clothes he needed.

Smile hoped he didn't look as lost as he felt.

The clothes he'd owned were all basic jeans and shirts with the exception of the robes Tom had prodded him into reluctantly wearing on the rare occasion. With the Doctor he had only worn white underwear and on the streets and with Bellatrix choices had been rather limited. Clothes just weren't something he'd spent much thought on.

In the end he just ended up telling her that he was rather open for suggestions and that he didn't mind a bit of variety.

Smile heard Bill groan behind him. Fleur and Charlie, on the other hand, both looked extremely pleased.

Three hours later Smile found himself in the middle of another fancy store. He watched from his perch as Charlie and Fleur circled him, holding up different clothes and exchanging words with each other and the two sales women who scurried hurriedly to comply. Bill had nodded off on one of the benches with his mouth open, one hand resting comfortably on his stomach and the other brushing the bags from the other stores they'd visited.

Apparently both Fleur and Charlie were big on clothes and wouldn't settle for just anything.

When he had finally though them done he had been informed that he was in need of a tuxedo as well. A tuxedo apparently included a pair of fancy shoes and a tie, whose color was being debated, after pants and jacket and button-up shirt had been found.

Admittedly, he had turned out to be a bothersome costumer. He wanted them to be comfortable and functional with decent movement and with all the stiff pants and jackets they had already spent forty minutes trying to find the perfect one. The one he was wearing now was fairly basic, black in color, and while the jacket still bothered him it was easy enough to remove.

Even Fleur had sighed in relief when he confirmed he liked it.

A tie with a startling resemblance to the color of his eyes was held up by Charlie who looked impossible smug. "Perfect," he said simply.

Smile could honestly say that shopping had been an interesting experience. He'd had no idea there were so many different types of clothes with different cuts which he had to be aware of as well as paying careful attention to color. Charlie looked like he'd suffered a miniscule heart attack when he'd found Smile eyeing a sunny yellow t-shirt and had promptly dragged him away from it.

Mostly he had gotten things in the colors blue, green, purple and grey. But Smile had also managed to smuggle in the odd pink shirt which he was feeling very satisfied with. His new socks were also a curious variation of odd colors and prints that Smile and Bill had picked out while Charlie and Fleur were busy elsewhere.

An hour into the shopping they had stopped by a furniture store to buy him a new bed and a sofa which would be delivered the following day. But Fleur had then dragged him away while Bill and Charlie stayed behind to choose the rest of the furniture.

He swept his tongue over the pear flavored ice cream Bill had coerced him into buying and looked over at his new companions. Bill and Charlie were in deep conversation behind him and Fleur was beside him, licking the blueberry ice cream her boyfriend had bought her.

She noticed his attention and turned her head slightly to look at him. "Did you have fun?"

Fun? Smile mulled it over. The Doctor had always said that having fun was for fools. But he had… enjoyed being with them. The ribbing between the brothers and the witty words from Fleur had on more than one occasion made his lips twitch and he had… enjoyed the attention. Tom had seldom had time for him and anything that was not important to the man was easily dismissed. It was the kind of treatment he was used to but Bill and Charlie and now Fleur had under the course of three days shown him differently. They made sure to include him and ask him for opinions and though it felt awkward and foreign he had…

"Yes," he told her, feeling surprised by his own revelation. "I had fun."

Fleur smiled at him. "I am glad. I know we can be a bit overbearing at times and I was worried."

Smile looked over at her. "You're from France, aren't you?" Fleur nodded. "What's it like?"

"_C'est magnifique_." She said softly. "Very different from Britain but I find that I enjoy both countries very much. I just wish my _mama_ and my _papa_ and my little sister Gabrielle was here as well." She shook her head slightly, looking up.

"You miss them." He observed with a touch of curiosity.

"Of course, they are my family." Fleur turned her attention back to him. "Don't you have anyone you miss?"

Did he miss Tom? Yes, Smile supposed he did. He missed those evenings when the older man had allowed Smile to lay his ear against his chest and listen to the rhythmic beat of Tom's heart. They would both be sweaty from their activities and the air of the bedroom musky from the smell of it. Sometimes Tom would even stroke his hair or his ears.

The moments had been very rare but Smile had enjoyed them something immensely.

"I miss what has been." Smile said after a moment of contemplative silence. "And what could have been."

Fleur nodded thoughtfully. "Such is often the case with love."

"What's this?" Charlie threw an arm his shoulder, startling Smile. "Have our little Vinnie loved and lost?"

Bill shot his brother a look. "Vinnie?" He asked unimpressed.

"I think it suits him."

"It sounds like you're talking about a horse." Bill said dryly.

Charlie shrugged innocently, tightening his hold on the black haired teen who had trying to smoothly extract himself. "Now, what is this I hear about love?"

"It's nothing." Smile flushed. "I didn't – I haven't -," he shook his head. "It's nothing." He repeated more firmly.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Bill broke in smoothly when it looked as if Charlie would noogie the boy into admitting. "We all love someone. Even that knucklehead who is clinging to you like an ape."

Charlie shot him an affronted look but relented his grip. Smile immediately straightened out his clothes and flattened his hair.

"It is true." Fleur said, coming to his rescue. "You should see Charlie around Ms. Nymphadora Tonks. It's as if he turns into a stammering, tripping, twelve year old and he can't tear his eyes off her."

"It's not that bad!" Charlie protested.

Bill snorted, catching on. "It is bad enough that I get embarrassed from just being related to you."

"I refuse to listen to this." Charlie clapped his hands over his ears and sped up, humming loudly. Bill followed him, talking loudly about all the things Charlie apparently did around this Tonks figure. Smile watched them, smiling faintly.

"You know, this is the first time I've seen you smile the entire day." Fleur remarked. "You should do so more often – it suits you."

Smile looked down, flexing his fingers absently. He was wearing a t-shirt and the unmarked skin of his wrists seemed to scream up at him. For a moment it flashed in color, replaced by dark black splotchy bruises and skin that had been violently chafed open into raw wounds. They faded as soon as they had appeared, leaving smooth pale skin behind.

Not even a scar remained – there was no proof, nothing to say that it had happened. But it had. Tom hadn't been there in the morning but the chains had been unlocked and Tom was the only one who knew how to do that. He had been alone and after showering and dressing Smile left and he hadn't seen Tom since.

There was no explanation, no apologies and Smile knew he was an idiot for expecting anything else.

"Fleur…" he looked up. "How do you know if you're in love with someone?"

She didn't look startled by the question but rather let out a soft hum as she contemplated it. "You want to be with that person all the time." She said after a moment. "You want to do things for them, be there for them, and protect them. And when you think about them you feel warm." She placed her hand over her heart. "That's what I feel when I think about Bill. But love is different for everyone."

Silence settled between them as Fleur allowed him to think it over.

The evening air was pleasantly warm and the sound of clinking glasses, laughing voices and the smell of summer barbecue travelled teasingly with the wind. It was still startlingly light outside despite the time and Smile wondered if he would ever be a part of something so normal. The smiles and laughter, family and friends gathered together with food that smelled absolutely divine and would be finished by ravenous mouths.

He reached up to touch his pointy ears, feeling the rough skin beneath the illusion.

The problem was, Smile thought to himself, that he wasn't normal and he didn't know how to be normal. He wasn't one of those families. He who didn't even know who his parents were or what name he had been given at birth or if he even had been given one. He had no real name, only titles and false identities. Smile was perhaps the closest thing to a name he had and was what he had come to identify himself at. But was that all he was?

Tom… Tom had given him so much but he had demanded much in return and taken even more than that. Tom couldn't give him normality but Smile hadn't been looking for normality with Tom.

"I don't think I loved him." Smile said at last as they neared his house. "Not in a romantic sense, at least. But for a few months he was everything for me."

As it was Smile knew he had never experienced anything like what Fleur described. He had never loved anyone but he wondered what it was like.

It sounded… nice.

**- Smile -**

The furniture arrived following morning and Charlie showed up to help him. Apparently Bill's job had demanded him to call in and he had been forced to rush off. From what Charlie said Bill had sounded highly apologetic. Smile didn't understand why – of course work would be put before helping some odd new neighbor he barely knew.

He was grateful to have Charlie there however and said as much.

They had painted the living room a vivid blood red color and had bought a black couch and matching chair as well as a dark mahogany bookshelf. Smile was surprised by the choices – it made the room look surprisingly dark but in a comfy sense that it had lacked before. They'd cleaned out the fire place and looking at it Smile could imagine the overall feeling of the room during winter. The lamp balanced it up by being overly bright above the old table they'd saved and in the corner the dented piano stood proudly.

The kitchen was now bright yellow and Smile had managed to save the old green fridge and freezer from being thrown out. They had repainted the table in the same faded old green color, or as close to a match they'd found and the overall effect was pleasant. The cabinets and shelves were all in a lighter wood than the living room and it made an interesting contrast walking between the two rooms.

The stairs were mahogany and the walls painted burnt orange leading up to a purple hallway. The 2nd and 3rd bedroom looked roughly the same except the paint combinations. The 2n bedroom was blue and bronze coordinated with a shelf made of what looked like wires, a bed, a chair and a wardrobe. The 3rd was red and gold, same idea but with minor changes.

It was the master bedroom that really stood out and he was quite frankly startled when he first stepped into it. Charlie had insisted on decorating it on his own, apparently under orders from Bill, and Smile was amazed.

The walls were soft pink, like cotton candy, and in the middle of the room was a simple white wooded bed with fluffy white covers with ravens stretched out on them, as if taking flight. The wardrobe was white as well; barely half the height of the room unlike the guest room's ceiling high ones, with a small plotted plant and a glass elephant on it. There was a white plushy couch with a lamp in one corner and two cactuses in the window.

"You like?" Charlie asked, appearing behind him. "Bill insisted we'd keep it fairly simple and clean. The ravens were my idea though. I thought a bit of decoration mightn't be out of place."

Smile looked around him, a niggling feeling in the back of his head telling him that he had seen something like this room before. But it was impossible. Both Bellatrix and Tom had despised lighter colors and pink had not been welcome in either home. The Doctor couldn't stand colors and would never have painted a room pink even if he had.

Smile stepped into the room and he knew that this house would come to change something inside him because when he turned around he couldn't help a smile from blooming on his lips as he looked up at Charlie.

"Thank you."

Charlie looked long and hard at him before his face relaxed and an answering smile stole across it. A hand planted itself on his head, mussing up his black locks and skewing his green headband.

"Anytime, kiddo."


	3. Chapter 3

**General Informative Shit:** The dive of 8 reviews to 3 made me want to hug a cactus.

**Warning(s): **It's M-rated, you don't get much more of a warning than that.

**Reader Worthy Info:** Milk reduces the fat you get into you by half according to a new British study.

**Smile**

_"...but how can you expect a clown to stop a circus?"_

**Where Smile Learns The Art Of Smiling**

Smile spent the following weeks after finishing up the last of his house vanishing in and out of it. He visited small cheap shops when he explored the area and mentally mapped it out. He had even been stopped once by a woman who wouldn't let him leave until he'd tried out her freshly brewed tea and chocolate cookies. He had remained there for two hours, listening with interest as she told him about her husband who had vanished during the WWII and who she described as a "lazy bum who no doubt took the chance and left" with a fond grumble.

Smile also took the chance to really explore muggle London which he had visited several times before but he had never been able to take in at his leisure. The fact that he now had a house really changed everything and he had been unable to help himself from buying a small glass turtle on his fifth visit to an out-of-the-way small boutique. It now stood proudly in his kitchen window and sparkled as the sun hit it.

Bill had stopped by twice to check up on him but the visits had been brief and the redhead apologetic. Apparently work was taking up much of his time but the older man had wished him all the good luck and told him that if there was anything he needed help with not to be afraid to ask.

Charlie, however, made sure to stop by every other day be it for a couple of minutes of a three four hours. Smile had been surprised by the frequency and had asked him about it but Charlie had merely waved it away. "Don't sell yourself short. You're more interesting than you think." The redhead had told him easily as he flickered a grape into his mouth.

Visiting muggle London also meant that he'd seen more people the last week then he had his entire life. Or that's at least what it felt like to Smile. When he had dared to step into a restaurant to eat lunch he had been accosted by two girls a few years older than himself who had eagerly coerced him into sitting with them. They had spent the time asking the strangest questions and giggling madly as he struggled to answer them.

Why they had wanted to know whether he wore boxers or briefs was entirely beyond his understanding.

To Smile every day was turning out to be something of an adventure. He wore the clothes Fleur and Charlie had helped him pick out, visited parks and watched a man make art with chalk on the concrete ground. He had even dared to make small talk with a woman with a fluffy white dog on the bus who had ended up giving him her phone number and telling her to stop by when he had some free time.

Charlie had laughed hysterically when Smile had told him about it.

It was the middle of his third week after moving into Grimmauld Street when Smile happened upon the blond.

It was his third time passing by the so-called 'gaming center' with a lingering look of interest. Smile found it curious that it was mainly people his own age that flocked around it, exclaiming loudly in awe and anger, laughing and starting up fights between each other. It was in particular one of these fights that had caught his interest and Smile watched as a large muscled boy wrestled a smaller one to the ground without much effort.

He was taller than Smile which was rare and had smooth blond hair that flopped into his blue eyes and was impatiently blown away in a puff of air. He seemed to be made up entirely by muscles and moved in that particular way that was fighters did, clearly in control of his own body.

The guards didn't even try to drag him off the kid but looked tense as the large blond tightened his grip on the older but smaller teen who was making some odd gurgling curses with his face smashed against the ground.

"Let us handle it from here, Dudley." One of the guards said slowly. "You know what happened last time."

The blond, Dudley, snorted in contempt but straightened out, pulling the other roughly to his feet and shoving him into the arms of the guard who had spoken up. The crowd slowly dispersed after that and Dudley had a brief conversation with the other guard before the man shook his head and left as well while Smile watched in interest.

"What happened last time?"

Dudley was fast but Smile was faster. He twisted to the side to avoid the incoming fist and dodged the arm that had moved to slam him up against the wall. Smile backed just safely out of reach to Dudley's left and tilted his head. The blond looked mildly surprised, if not impressed as he shook his hand and flexed his fingers after hitting the concrete wall.

The blond looked at him closely and Smile got the distinct impression that he was being seized up. "Who are you?" Dudley asked him roughly.

"Vincent Price."

"Sounds stupid." Dudley grunted as he stuck his hands into his pockets. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"That?" Smile asked

"The dodging thing."

"Oh." Smile attempted one of the fake smiles he had practiced in the mirror. "The Doctor taught me."

Dudley grimaced at him. "Stop that." Smile looked at him blankly. "The fake smiling – it makes you look constipated. If you're going to do it you should at least do it right." The blond grumbled with a sudden glint in his piggish eyes.

Smile let it fade away, tilting his head.

Dudley turns out to be something of a brute but an uncommonly clever brute who knew exactly what he was doing. Not only had he managed to ensnare Smile into buying him food at McDonalds and then an ice cream but he was also a bag of chips which he's happily cramming his mouth with as he instructs Smile in the ways to fake a smile.

He's introduced himself as Dudley Dursley and Smile can't help but wonder if he's quite possible a genius in manipulation.

Smile has always enjoyed inventing stories and during long boring hours in the lab he'd create new places and pretend he had been born into another life in another world. He had never understood the concept of family and trying to create a pretend family had always been beyond his reach but he knew pain and his mind thrived with ideas. It had gotten to the point that during periods of time he had trouble separating the lie and the truth once it had been invented and it made for impeccable lying skills.

It was easy to lie when your mind was convinced it was the truth.

Bellatrix, who was about the closest thing to a motherly figure he had always encouraged this particular skill. When he was younger she'd hide them in the small closet, holding him painfully tight against her chest and rocking back and forth.

Her voice would be soft as she told him about her Hogwarts days and about her years of service in the Dark Lord's army. Smile had loved listening to her. He liked to pretend it was he who had been sorted into Slytherin, thriving through the ranks and becoming strong enough to garner the recognition of the Dark Lord.

She would twist details, add new ones, remove old ones and she'd question him about it and it he got something wrong she'd punish him.

One learned quickly under the guidance of Bellatrix Lestrange and Smile had done many things in his life he regretted under her tutelage. His worst sins had been committed in the service of the Doctor and Tom, however. Sins he would spend his entire life struggling to atone for.

Dudley stood out from the crowds and the blond knew it, had chosen it even. He was violent and demanding, manipulative and short-tempered and people feared him because of it. He hurt people for no other reason than that he could and laughed as a car rammed full-speed into a five year old who had escaped her parent's attention to chase after a bouncing ball.

Smile watched as panicked people gathered around the accident, cries for ambulances and CPR, for someone, _anyone_ to help reaching his sensitive ears as if he was there in the crowd and not several meters away on a bench beside a positively giddy blond cramming his mouth with chips.

He watched her blood stain the concrete ground as she bled out and counted her last shuddering heartbeats.

Dudley made a sound of disappointment, wiping his hands on his jeans. "Well, now that the fun is over wanna hang out at the gaming center?"

It wasn't a question.

Not really.

Smile could have escaped Dudley easily enough. He was faster than the blond and he knew how the blond smelled which would make him ease to avoid. But something made him stay and listen as Dudley outlined the basics of his favorite games to Smile after he informed the blond that he had never played any games before.

Ten minutes he was straddling a fake bike and being beaten badly by a smug Dudley. The bike felt foreign beneath him, heavy and uncomfortable to a boy who had never even learned how to ride a bike. Dudley reached the finishing line and Smile's bike on the screen exploded in a shower in blood, a large bold 'YOU LOOSE' appearing in red.

Dudley looked over at him. "You suck, you know that?" The blond asked rhetorically.

Smile crossed his arms; scanning the room in search for something he might be able to beat the other at. His eyes caught sight of a blue and red gun before a large screen with stumbling zombies. Something that looked suspiciously like a smirk spread across his lips as a competitive spirit stirred to life inside him.

"One more game. Winner gets to make the loser do something outrageous." He proposed on a whim.

"Any limits?" Dudley asked, suddenly looking _very_ interested.

"None."

Dudley looked over at him in sudden appreciation. "Damn, Vincent – I didn't know you had it in you."He smirked, holding out his hand. "It's a deal." They shook.

Close range weapons had never suited Smile much to the Doctor's frustration and while he was decent at hand-to-hand combat it wasn't his field of expertise. It was with guns he had thrived and Smile had something that could only be described as a mean aim.

Zombie's exploded rapidly, head-shots scoring him extra points as Dudley fought valiantly to try and even the score. People gathered around them, awed and unbelievable whispers spreading through the crowd as Smile's score points went up-up-up. Dudley accidentally hit one of the civilians they'd been trying to save with a foul curse as Smile reloaded and blew the zombie's head.

He was winning, he knew he was, the crowd knew it, Dudley knew it.

And then someone slammed into him.

Smile, who had the bad habit of closing off his surrounding when he focused, was caught off guard, and fell hard on the floor. The girl who had run into him landed on his chest, making every muscle inside his body freeze up from the close contact. His breath stuttered to a halt and he swallowed thickly as he looked up at the ceiling, trying desperately not to panic. "Please get off me." He breathed.

The girl looked absolutely horrified by what she'd done, apologizing rapidly as she scampered up and away from amidst the crowds complains. He slowly and awkwardly pulled himself to his feet, trying desperately to get his heart to slow down from its rapid thumping in his chest. He felt crowded and the sounds around him sounded muffled and far away.

Smile was out of there before his brain could process the movement. He stumbled around the corner and let his feet guide him away from the gaming center and towards a large open park where he sunk into an empty bench with a shuddering breath.

Smile realized that his hands were trembling and that his body was bathed in cold sweat and shame filled him up. He felt pale and drawn, washed out, and he dragged his hands through his hair clenching the black locks as he fought to ground himself in reality.

"Are you alright?" He jerked startled and looked up in surprise.

Hermione Granger, his head informed him. A girl with an almost frightening intelligence, curly brown hair, a smatter of freckles across her nose and amber eyes.

She looked as surprised to see him as he was to see her. "You're Vincent Price." She said, and it was a statement rather than a question.

"You know Bill?" He managed to force out as he concentrated on breathing in and out.

"I stay with the Weasleys sometimes. Their youngest son is one of my best friends." She said softly.

"R-Ron, right?"

"Yes."She bit down on her lower lip, looking concerned. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"P-please just talk to me." It slipped from his tongue before he could censor himself and he clenched his fists, hating the weakness. While he had trouble standing the touch of people in general, females especially, he had always found that listening to someone talk helped him focus. Hermione's voice was no different and he concentrated on it, using it as a way to ground himself and soothe the nausea.

If Tom could see him now the man would have been disgusted.

She hadn't even touched his skin but the feel of her upon him, her weight and the feel of soft breasts coupled with the surprise had been enough to send him for a tumble. Normally he could filter it away and as long as he knew the touch was coming it wasn't that bad.

He had been stupid.

He became aware of a rustling sound and a bottle of water was suddenly presented to his view. He took it, fumbling with the cork but managed to pray it open with shaking hands. It was cool and wonderful and helped the nausea and headache something immensely.

"Are you feeling better now?" Hermione asked softly.

Smile managed a weak nod. "Thank you." He said sincerely, squinting from the sudden onslaught of sunshine as he looked up. Hermione smiled down at him, looking relieved.

"I'm glad." She glanced down at her watch. "I have to go." She said apologetically. "It was nice meeting you Vincent. I just wish it had been under better circumstances."

She left Smile along on a park bench clutching an empty bottle of water with a strange bubbly feeling in his stomach.

It was late when Smile finally decided to return home. He naturally needed very little sleep and could get by on two or three hours per night if he wanted. It had made him something of a night owl and he couldn't actually remember going to bed before twelve unless he had passed out from blood loss. Smile liked the night. He always felt more awake and comfortable; as if it was there he belonged. He had always hated the night before he met the Doctor but it was such a long time ago that he couldn't remember why it had scared him.

Smile had bought a keyring for his house key and the turtle dangled happily as he stuck it into the lock and turned it. The sound of tiny claws and tiny sniffing sounds made him pause as he stepped through the door and he released the illusion on his ears. Long black scaly ears twitched as the sound doubled around him and his mouth stretched into a wide, hungry smile.

"I can hear you, Wormtail." Smile said out loud, enjoying how the careful movement of the rat came to an abrupt halt and a tiny heart suddenly tripled in speed. He couldn't apparate while he was in his animagus form and if he tried to turn back into his human form he would end up squashed between the walls in a splatter of blood. Smile knew it, Wormtail knew it.

It didn't stop the rat from attempting to flee.

There was a sudden scramble of tiny legs and claws that clicked loud in Smile's ears as Wormtail began moving in the wall to his left, aiming for the staircase and the upper floor. Smile slammed his hand through the wall, fingers closing around a tiny hairy ball with a long pink tail and a silver hand which he abruptly pulled back.

"Bad idea, Wormtail." Smile said softly to the animagus. "You know you stand no chance against me. As do Tom." He threw the rat up, watching as it transformed mid-way into a rat-like man, painfully thin and hunched and clad in rags that hung upon his thin frame. Watery blue eyes looked up at him. "So why don't you tell me why you're here? Other than to spy on me, of course."

Peter Pettigrew was a coward. It was so deeply ingrained in his personality that he hadn't even questioned himself about selling out his best friend and his family for the right to live longer. He joined Voldemort, gave his Lord what he wanted to know and waited with baited breath to hear the news of the death of the Potters and their two sons. But it didn't come. Instead Voldemort had been defeated, the children and James and Lily were still alive and Peter had been forced to go into hiding.

He had spent twelve years living as a pet rat to the Weasley family before Sirius had caught sight of him by chance and he had been forced to flee. It was only luck that kept him out of Azkaban and Peter had resolved to do everything in his power to revive his Lord again. It had taken a year to arrange but with the Triwizard Tournament coming up the perfect plan had been hatched. Crouch Jr. had replaced Mad-Eye Moody at Hogwarts and Near Potter's name had been drawn as a champion for an unnamed fourth school.

It had all been so perfect, so brilliant. Peter would have his master back, he would be protected, and Lord Voldemort would once again rein terror on the magical world. But Jacob Potter had managed to escape and the magical world had been warned about the dark lord's return and Voldemort had been forced into hiding and Peter with him.

And then there was the boy.

The strange tall boy with Lily's eyes who not only managed to capture Voldemort's attention but who willingly succumbed to it. Peter only ever saw him smile before he did something off and he looked at them as if he didn't understand what they were doing and for what reason they did it. He learned slowly but he came to understand right and wrong and Peter had been there when Smile for the first time questioned Voldemort's orders.

It hadn't been pretty and the following morning the boy had been gone.

Peter had been relived. The sight of blank green eyes, Lily's eyes, had made something uncomfortably close to guilt bubble up inside him. He had thought that would be the last he'd see of the boy but then Voldemort had sent him on this mission.

"Watch the boy," Voldemort told him. How did you watch someone whose hearing was as good as, and perhaps better, than a dog's? It was impossible. Peter had known that from the beginning. The whole situation really shouldn't have surprised him.

But it did.

Smile was tall and slim and managed to look almost starved in the blue v-neck he was wearing along with black jeans. He shouldn't have been frightening but he was because Peter knew exactly what he was capable off.

It was ultimately this knowledge that made him talk.

"M-master wanted me to watch you." Peter said quickly. "He… He didn't say anything else."

Smile looked at him and his eyes were predatory. Warning bells were going off all around his brain and Peter hardly dared to breathe as the boy crouched down before him. "I have a message for your master, _Wormtail._" Smile said to him and there was something very off about him, something dark and hungry. "I want you to inform your master that I don't want to see him and that he's better off staying far away from me, understood?"

Peter understood very well but he doubted his Lord would. The fact that Voldemort had been obsessing over the Potter boy for years was proof enough that he didn't like people going against his wishes and Peter knew that Smile was in a very precarious position.

Despite knowing what the boy was capable of Peter found himself pitying him.

Smile hadn't been for them long and he had seen the boy rarely but wherever he had grown up had robbed him off basic understanding of right and wrong, what was normal and what wasn't. There were rumors about him being the son of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange and Peter wasn't sure he wanted those confirmed. It just brought a whole new level of disturbing possibilities.

Peter didn't know how old Smile was but he couldn't be older than little Near or little Harry had the boy still been alive. Still just a child. But a twisted, murdering child.

No matter how he looked at it he was stuck between a madman and a madchild.

"I u-understand." Peter stammered, feeling his gut twist at the close proximity of too bright eyes. "I'll tell him, I promise."

Peter swallowed as Smile straightened up and stepped aside, legs quivering as he hesitantly made his way to the door. The boy made no move towards him and Peter allowed himself to breath as he pulled down the handle.

"Oh, and Wormtail?" He froze mid-step, not daring to look back. "Try anything like this again and I won't be as… lenient."

Peter practically fled the house.

**- Smile -**

Late that night Smile left his house clad in the clothes he had first arrived in. The illusion on his ears were gone and twitched at the sounds around him and the familiar weight of his gun strapped to his right leg was a comfort he hadn't even been aware of missing.

He melted into the shadows and twisted mid-step, disappearing without a sound.

The feeling of apparation was similar to being dragged violently through a very thin straw and his hands shot out automatically when it ended, catching himself and toppling into a roll. The first time he had apparated he had broken his arm and the second time his hip had exploded in a rain of blood and bone.

His magic had always been very volatile which made it hard for him to control it and more often than not he overpowered it when he tries to use it for simple tasks. Using a wand was entirely beyond his level of control, they tended to explode painfully. He couldn't put up wards and levitating things was a downright nightmare.

In many ways Smile was pretty much useless when it came to anything else except causing destruction and murder with his magic.

"I see that you did not explode this time around." A centaur with black hair and horse body with a scruffy black goatee stepped out of the shadows from his right. "I find myself surprised."

"Bane." Smile inclined his head. "I said I'd master it, did I not?"

Bane snorted and pawed the ground. "You've been telling me that for three years, little Bellua." The centaur said dryly as he stepped closer to Smile who had to crane his head to look up at the much taller being. "Come on now, he's waiting." Bane said simply, turning to allow Smile to climb onto his back.

Bane's skin was coffee brown and his muscles rippled as he tore through the forest much faster than any average horse. The wind whipped past them as they rode into the darkness.

Smile always wondered what the centaurs saw when they looked at him. They didn't like humans and cursed the witches and wizards and kept far away from them. Bane, for one, would never have allowed a human to ride him but he didn't mind and had, in fact, been the first to offer Smile a ride since it was much more convenient.

Being with the centaurs always made him wonder just what the Doctor had made him into.

Bane slowed down as they reached a familiar path and Smile relaxed his grip on Bane's waist as they cantered into a large clearing. Magic brushed his skin, thick and electrifying and a few curious eyes sought him out. Most of them were used to seeing him come and go and didn't pay much heed to his presence anymore but the little foals couldn't help their curiosity.

Smile followed Bane silently through the large clearing to the very end where the trees were so thick they were almost like a wall and a lone centaur rested on a bed of flowers. His horse body was white and his skin golden. His blond hair had gone grey with age and the blue eyes that sought them out were milky with blindness.

"Bellua."

"Cheiron." Smile greeted the king of centaurs reverently. "I felt your summon and have come to your side."

"Mars speaks of you." Cheiron said with a voice that was as strong and steady and revealed none of his age. "You have made a decision." He said simply, waiting.

Smile wasn't surprised by this knowledge. Centaurs always knew a great deal more than they let on.

"I have sought out the Order of the Phoenix and plan to offer them my help."Smile admitted.

"Revenge." Cheiron breathed, looking towards the sky. "Mars is alight with your desire. It will guide you toward your destiny." It meant nothing to Smile but he was aware of Bane stiffening by his side. "Ambition, sexual desire, passion, determination, will to act, discipline, motivation, initiation, impulses, fire within, energy levels, expressing anger… The will of Mars." Cheiron murmured to himself.

It was always like this with Cheiron. The first time Smile had met the old centaur Cheiron had looked down and him and mumbled something about the _will of Mars_ before telling Bane to carry him along. It had been his fifth time apparating and he had ended up in the middle of the forbidden forest despite anti-apparation wards with a large chunk of his thigh missing.

It had been an awkward and hostile time while he healed and when Smile had made to leave Cheiron had bent down and kissed his forehead.

Five months later a soft bell like sound had tingled in the back of his head and he had found himself seeking out the centaurs without understanding why. It happened again, more frequently, and the eight time it happened Smile had kneeled down before the king of centaurs and Cheiron had stroked his hidden ears.

He had been twelve, almost thirteen "Show us, _Bellua_."He'd commanded and Smile had been helpless to do anything but obey.

There was something inside him, something dark and violent that the Doctor had infused with him. Something that wasn't a human. It had nearly driven him insane trying to keep it contained before the being forced itself deeper and curled up like a ticking bomb inside his chest and out of his reach.

The centaurs called it Bellua. Hellkite. And to the boy called VII it became just another title.

They had been frightened in the beginning. All of them except Bane who was there the next time he was called and offering him a coffee brown hand after his less than graceful fall and kneeled down beside him to offer him a ride.

He rarely saw the centaurs but when it did it always coincided with a decision he'd made.

Had he been anyone else he would have wondered why the centaurs were so interested in him. For Smile who had spent years under the Doctor's scrutinizing eyes it was no different than being studied in the name of science.


	4. Chapter 4

**General Informative Shit:** I got a donut-maker in graduation present.

**Warning(s): **It's M-rated, you don't get much more of a warning than that.

**Reader Worthy Info:** Reviews make me fat.

**Smile**

_"Sit still said her father, quiet said her mom.  
So she sat still and quiet, __as an unexploded bomb."_  


**Where Smile Dresses Up As Smile**

"You went out last night." Smile paused, straightening up and looking over at Charlie who was seated on the kitchen counter. The redhead was fiddling around with a metal contraption that Smile had picked up some days earlier. It was supposed to be some difficult puzzle thing but Smile had solved it in minutes. Putting it back together he had left it lying and Charlie had found it when he arrived that morning and hadn't quite been able to lay it down as of yet.

"I did." Smile acknowledged, not seeing any reason not to. Of course they were still keeping an eye on him and just because he hadn't seen a guard didn't mean there hadn't been one. But Smile hadn't been aiming for hiding for long from the very beginning. It was a hard game he was playing – not appearing too suspicious and not appearing unsuspicious either.

He wanted them to play into his hands and not the other way around.

"Did you do anything fun?" Charlie asked, glancing up from his puzzle.

"I watched the stars." Smile told him as he went back to rummaging through the fridge. "Astrology has always interested me." He lied.

"The stars?" Charlie repeated puzzled, grimacing behind his back. "Don't tell me you're into that divination crap as well?"

"I don't believe in divination." Smile said promptly. "I believe in science." The Doctor had told him everything could be explained by science. Even magic. Nothing escaped science because as long as there was something created science had a hand in it. Smile had never understood it but the Doctor was usually right and he had been taught not to question it.

"Science…" Charlie was looking at him strangely. Or strangely to Smile, at least. He still had a hard time translating some human emotions and it was often a matter of guessing and going on a hunch. Mostly he just kept out of human business altogether or kept his answers vague if he wasn't sure what they really wanted from him. But he found it harder and harder not to answer properly the more time he spent with Charlie. Likewise with Bill but the oldest redhead had been visiting less and less.

Smile wondered why Charlie kept visiting him. He didn't understand why the redhead kept appearing like this, joking, laughing and sharing stories about him and his family. Sometimes he asked questions but they were strange questions about what kind of colors he liked, favorite animals, what he did for fun. Nothing about his background, no hints of magic, nothing of the like. People didn't seek him out unless they wanted something. Bill and Charlie had first visited him because they needed to check if he was a danger to them but that had been weeks ago. It puzzled him but like with everything else that appeared strange to him Smile played along.

Sooner or later he'd figure out the truth if it turned out to be important.

"Hey, Vinnie…" Smile looked up at Charlie. "I almost forgot but Mom wanted me to ask you if there is anything you need."

"Need?" Smile repeated puzzled.

"Yeah," Charlie looked up at him. "You know, like food or stuff like that."

Smile shook his head. "I have everything I need. Please tell her thank you for asking."

Charlie snorted. "You're so polite. You should hear Mom talking about you; 'He's such a good kid! So polite but poor boy, all on his own. You keep an eye on him don't you Charlie? He's far too thin!'" Charlie mimicked his mother's voice. He looked over at the taller teen appraisingly. "If you aren't careful you'll turn into her latest project."

"Project?" Smile reached out, fingers ghosting the tattoo on his inner left arm. "What do you mean?" He asked cautiously.

Charlie frowned at him. "It's nothing bad. Mom likes to take care of people. You're so thin you're practically a walking stick and I know she'd love to fatten you up." He explained, curious about the change in the dark haired boy's countenance.

Smile looked down at himself. Muscled without an ounce of fat, the perfect body according to the Doctor. Was the Doctor not right? "Is there something wrong with my body?" Smile looked at the redhead in askance.

Charlie gave him a most peculiar look. As if couldn't quite understand what Smile was asking. "No, of course not." The redhead said.

"Oh." Smile said, befuddled. He looked down at himself dubiously but reluctantly decided to let it go.

"You said you grew up with your Uncle, didn't you?" Charlie said suddenly.

"Yes." Smile nodded as the story he'd created upon moving there immediately swam to the front of his mind.

"And he wasn't married nor did he have children?" Charlie checked.

Smile gave him a puzzled look. "Well, no." He said slowly, unable to understand which direction Charlie was going with his question.

"He didn't…" Charlie looked troubled, glancing out the kitchen window. He seemed to decide on something because when he looked back at Smile his brows were furrowed. "What was his name?"

Smile hadn't actually named his imaginary uncle but the need to respond automatically overshadowed that fact and his mind picked the closest thing to a male relative he had inside his head. "Rodolph-" he found himself saying, snatching the word half way out as he realized his mistake with a spark of panic. "Rodolph Price." He attempted the smile Dudley Dursley had taught him. "You know, like the reindeer but with an o instead of an u."

Smile was an accomplished liar. He was cold and calculated and his might as well have been working with numbers and facts instead of human emotions. That was the way he'd grown up, the way Doctor had trained him to be. But he realized with a start that Charlie had made him relax and it had caused a slip of the tongue that Smile wasn't sure he could afford.

"Rodolph Price?" Charlie repeated. He gave Smile a long unfathomable look and Smile knew that had the Doctor been there to witness his slip he would have been severely punished.

"Yeah." Smile said, feeling his unease grow as Charlie regarded him thoughtfully.

The redhead remained silent the rest of the time and left Smile with a mumbled goodbye and a contemplative look on his face.

"_Mistakes are unforgivable, VII, understand that. Mistakes result in failed missions, the wrong deaths and _your_ punishment. That is a fact you will forever abide."_

Smile pulled his jeans off, revealing thighs heavily scarred by the repeative pattern of rows of four lines crossed over by a fifth. His left thigh was filled to the brim but the right still had half its surface free. Smile pulled out the secret knife from his boot and plunged it into his flesh, drawing a line across four others. Blood bubbled out and the knife scraped against the bone.

"Mistakes are unforgivable." Smile told himself. "Making mistakes results in punishment. Count the lines, VII, count the lines, count the lines, _count the lines, VII_." He blinked, mind flickering oddly with the mumbled mantra of repetitive words. "Mistakes results in punishment, VII. P-punishment." He drew the knife back and forth in the wound as his skin attempted to heal, forcing it to scar. "_Count the lines, VII, count your mistakes_." The Doctor's voice said coldly from the depth of his mind.

**- Smile -**

That evening the Underground called for Smile.

He dressed up in black jeans and a simple long sleeved shirt, strapped his gun to his thigh and hooked it up so that the contraption was secured to his belt. A knife was fused against his lower spine with a spark of magic and another smaller one against his inner right wrist.

He touched the tiny black dots hidden beneath each ear and channeled a spark of magic into them. Immediately a black mask of inky darkness bled over his entire face and dipped past the collar of his shirt and continued down to the tips of his naked feet. The black VII on his inner left wrist flashed as the ink touched it and changed into white. It bled into his eyes, erasing white and green entirely. Gold swirled from the darkness, marking a star in the middle of his forehead with sharp lines and formed dull circles inside his eyes. Metal rippled beneath his skin and thin metal split his skin open and met halfway across his face over nose, mouth and chin where they fused together. It split open over his mouth to allow him to breath and stretched into a wide eerie grin with metal stripes like teeth.

The entire thing was the Doctor's design. As long as Smile had magic the contraption would remain in place, constantly draining him of small amounts of energy. Wearing it too long with make him lethargic and could lead to death if he lost consciousness without deactivating it.

It was the first time the Doctor had taught him not to do.

"_Better dead than ravaged for all my secrets."_ The Doctor had mumbled resentfully when Smile had tried it out for the first time.

The illusion on his ears were released, long black and scaled ears replacing pink human ears and immediately his sensitivity to sound and smell doubled.

Smile locked the door, pocketing the keys with the dangling turtle and melted into the darkness without a sound.

You didn't know anyone at the Underground, the Underground knew you. It was mainly vampires and werewolves who ruled in the Underground, the occasional veela, goblin, and a few chosen humans who deemed themselves the top of the food chain. No real names were used and with the rare exception they all wore masks of some kind. Some worked solo, some in pairs, but they all headed the word of their leader.

The Underground was ruled by six members, three of them vampires, two veelas, and one werewolf. To date Smile had met them twice – the first time when they'd tracked him down and had him brought before them to offer him a position in their service and the second when he'd garnered enough points in their favor to officially allow him the name Smile.

Otherwise it was vampires and the occasional werewolf he had to deal with, lackeys working directly under their immediate rule. So when he was informed that he was expected by them Smile didn't quite know what to think. The vampire who met him was his regular one, an unusually bubbly vampire of two hundred years or so. The mask he wore was sunshine yellow, something he'd been informed was the 'perfect irony for a vampire', and black letters spelled out 'DRAY' at the top.

"I'm so excited for your sake." 'Dray' was telling him as he led Smile down corridors with his eyelids spelled shut. "It must be really important to call _you_ there. I mean, they've never done it before!" Like all vampires his voice was almost melodic despite the bouncy tone and he liked hearing himself talk entirely too much. "Oh, I can't wait! Perhaps they'll send you on some top-notch secret mission, eh, Smile? Wouldn't that just be awesome!" Dray made a twirl, practically bubbling with giddiness. "You have to tell me everything of course! If they allow it of course." He corrected himself, wagging his finger at Smile who caught the movement of air. "No telling your buddy Dray-Dray anything he shouldn't hear, that clear? I don't want to end up like Freez." Dray gave a theatrical shudder.

It was all empty words and reassurances. Vampires like Dray were there for one reason and one reason only, to come as close to the six as possible. It was rumored that the age old vampire king Dracula was in fact among the six and among vampires it was the highest praise to be accepted by one of such a status.

Smile knew Dray would kill him in a heartbeat if the situation demanded it even if it was only a rumor.

There is no such thing as trust in the Underground.

They finally came to a halt and Smile touched his eyelids, releasing the spell as Dray knocked on the nondescript door they found themselves before. A melodic voice invited him inside and Dray's dark envious glare remained on him until the door clicked shut behind him.

The room was saturated it magic, practically dripping with it, and it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on an edge as it crawled across his body. The mask covering his face was deactivated, yanked sharply back into his skin which sealed itself shut in a heartbeat.

It was a small room, not particularly impressive and nor was it meant to impress. There was a six seat sofa designed like an L before a fire place, a table with six chairs and smaller table with a chess painted onto it and opposite chairs. The rest of the space was taken up by bookshelves crammed with books and scattered chairs of various designs.

It was the same room he'd met them in the first two times but the location had been changed. Smile knew, he'd counted the steps and named the turns.

Six masked beings were scattered across the room, all with the same white masks. Unlike Dray's mask their covered only half their faces, leaving nose down free for inspection.

To his immediate left was a woman with short blond hair, pale skinned and red-eyed. She was known as 'NORTH', the name spelled out across the top of the mask like Dray's but in stylish silver instead of blocky black letters.

A deceptively young male veela with short silvery sticking up in various directions had the name 'JAY' spelled out on his mask. He was playing chess with the only werewolf in the room, a tall woman with long messy brown hair, sharp golden eyes and the name 'NINE'.

The other veela lay curled on the floor before the fire place with short silvery hair and would have been a copy of her brother Jay hadn't it been for the faint touch of female curves and the name 'RAY' on her mask.

The oldest being in the room was the vampire curled up in the sofa, elegantly sipping blood from a glass. His hair was long and dark, even darker than Smile's and his eyes red, intelligent and so very old. On his mask was the name 'VEIN'.

The sixth member known as 'LYRE' was regarding him with something Smile had come to associate with curiosity and was the first to speak. "I am still impressed with that mask. I wish you'd tell us where you got it from." He was a vampire with almost frosty brown hair and the same sharp red eyes all vampires had.

"I cannot." Smile said simply.

"Not _cannot_, but _will_ not. But do not worry little Smile, I won't make you tell." Lyre smiled sharply, showing of rows of white teeth – a movement meant to frighten not reassure.

"You would not be able to replicate it anyway, Lyre." North commented as she ruffled her short hair. "You're too much of an idiot."

Lyre rolled his eyes. "Why thank you darling." He said dryly.

North gave him a thin smile.

Smile knew very little about social interactions which put him in a really bad spot when associated with vampires. Vampires were known to be even less expressive than humans, the subtle changes in their faces too small for regular human eyes to catch properly. Smile saw better than any human would but he had trouble enough with slow human shifts of emotions that vampires made him feel distinctively lost. Veelas weren't much better and Nine was shockingly proper for a werewolf, very restrained, which was why she was at the top in the first place.

The thing about the Underground leaders was that they were all playing a game meant to ease your guard. When any other people in their situation would have been restrained Lyre and North in particular was there to show you that they were sarcastic and harsh, _human_. It was all a play without rules. Because North and Lyre were as far away from human as vampire came.

Smile wouldn't have understood it hadn't both the Doctor and Tom mentioned it on occasion. It made him feel really out of place.

"Anyway," Lyre swiveled around to stare at him. "You've clearly dodged a ball here, Smiley dear. I dare say it slipped your mind like water through a sieve, conveniently forgotten, never to be told." Lyre looked like a cat ready to spring, there was a coiling of muscles, a flash of black in red eyes.

"What Lyre is trying to say is that we've come across some, ah," here Vein paused, "_troubling_ news about you." The old vampire said, choosing his words carefully. There was something sensual about Vein, something dark but not necessarily bad. He drew both men and women and ensnared them like flies in a spider's web. You couldn't help but _not_ listen, wanting to please the man.

It was a peculiar thing and not unlike the aura of Tom.

Smile liked to think he'd already been taught that lesson.

He kept his face carefully blank, neutral, like the Doctor taught him as he thought over the words. Something troubling? Smile tried to search for anything in his life that might have caused this reaction but found himself at loss. Had they found out about his plan to infiltrate the Order? It wouldn't be impossible but he didn't want to be mistaken and tip them off to something he wanted none of their involvement in.

"Troubling?" Smile repeated the word. It was a trick he'd picked up with the Doctor when he wanted him to elaborate on something he didn't understand. It was a habit, perhaps a bad one, and it had made driven Tom up the walls with anger on several occasions. Tom said it made him look stupid and ignorant, like a particularly dumb dog.

"Yes, troubling." North confirmed as she seated herself elegantly on the chair behind her, crossing her legs in one smooth move. The skirt she wore swished with the movement, deliberately short to catch attention and further ensnare unsuspecting men and women.

Smile had yet to come across a vampire that was only interested in one gender. Dray had mentioned that almost all vampires were bisexual since they didn't care much about gender when they fed. Their bed partners often ended up as their dinner and there was no reason for being picky about such things. More often than not they simply sought out the human with most power, most charisma, most _something_ and ensnared them. Because vampires like to play and what use were there to charm someone who already willingly crawled by their feet?

Vampires were all about domination in all forms of the word. It was just one of the many things that made them so incredibly dangerous.

Nine snorted in humor. "What they're saying, kiddo, is that they heard about you and old Voldie-boy."

Tom Marvolo Riddle, letters that could be arranged into the acronym I am Lord Voldemort. The heir of Slytherin. The Dark Lord.

His former… _lover_.

Ah.

"I left him." Smile said, wondering where they were going with this.

"You did," Nine said, giving him an appreciative look. "You are quite something for being able to hide your relation while it lasted."

"Don't praise him." Lyre gave the werewolf a foul look before glaring up at Smile. "You should have told us about it." The vampire said, baring his teeth.

"You never asked." Smile said carefully. "I am not in the habit of giving more information than is sought."

A deep rumbling sound that Smile identified with a start as laughter issued from Vein. "Smart boy."

"Vein!" Lyre looked furious. "Don't encourage him."

Lyre didn't like Smile. From the moment he opened his eyes and first saw the six he knew Lyre wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. None of them did, really, but Lyre in particular was after his blood in all the wrong ways. Smile was sure that if he got the chance Lyre would happily gut him and bathe in his blood. It wasn't an exaggeration. There was something furious about Lyre, something dark. It was the only thing that reflected an age that was older than three hundred. Everything else about Lyre was young but Smile knew that Lyre merely played it off that way. Tom had said that Lyre was practically ancient and it wouldn't surprise him if Lyre was the oldest next to Vein.

Jay and Ray were the youngest and from what Smile knew about veelas they had to be in their thirties although they looked as if they were still in their teens. They were full blood veelas which was rare in itself, the fact that they were twins were just icing on the cake. Nine, the werewolf, was next and then either North or Lyre and Vein as the oldest.

"Boya," North cut in before Lyre could start on a tirade. "Tom Riddle is looking for you and he has disturbed us to reach you. That is unacceptable."

If Smile read it correctly he suspected Tom had waltzed in and demanded to know where he was which meant that Tom knew of his other identity. Tom had never liked half-breeds as he called them – beings that weren't human but had "near human intelligence" as it was written in the Ministry books. How they rationalized that century old beings could somehow be less intelligent than mortal man was something Smile even hadn't even looked at. What he did know was that one didn't mess with the Underground without coming out riddled in holes.

Tom had just made a grave mistake.

It was unlikely that the six beings before him would get involved in any way, at least personally, but it was for that reason they had people like Smile and Dray.

"Simply put, we're getting you involved in the war." Ray drawled from her spot before the fire place. "They just like dancing around the issue."

"We already know you've struck up contact with the Weasleys as Vincent Price." Jay chimed in.

"Only now, you're not dodging out of it no matter what happens." Ray's chilly blue eyes flickered up. "Keep an eye on the Order, see what happens and play by the ear. We'll contact you with further instructions later."

The entire situation struck Smile as being wrong. This was information that easily could have been brought to him by Dray and did not require him to meet them at all. Something else, something he did not know anything about, was playing out right beneath his feet. It was all there in the things they didn't say and the way they regarded him.

Smile decided he didn't like it but he knew better than to say anything.

He gave a bow. "I understand." He said, selling his already battered soul.

**- Smile -**

Smile remained contemplative the following days, thinking over his meeting with the Underground leaders. Charlie had been curiously absent and he ended up having far too much time on his hands. Had he already become so used to having people in his life after a few weeks with the redheads dodging in and out of his house?

Smile stretched out his long legs, clenching and unclenching his bare toes as he stared out at nothing in particular. He sat on the stairs just outside his house, fiddling absently with the tiny pink and red turtle connected to his house key. It wasn't particularly late, the sun had yet to vanish and the wind was pleasantly cool without being freezing. Smile had curled himself in a blue fluffy blanket that he'd bought some days earlier and was contemplating the twist in his plan.

Smile knew all about things turning ugly. The Doctor didn't have a temper but he had rules and when they were crossed things had a tendency to turn very ugly. Tom both had rules and a temper and Smile, operating with whatever social skills he had, had struggled not to step into the middle of something he wasn't sure he'd be able to step back from. That hadn't ended very well.

And now the Underground had taken a step into his plans and Smile knew he had to be extra cautious. He couldn't let the Order know about the Underground and he didn't want them to know about his involvement with Tom, at least not yet. And preferably not until after the war was done and finished so that Smile could safely dodge away and lick his wounds away from everything.

Smile looked down at his jeans clad thighs, hands flexing. He could remember the first time the Doctor tore the knife through his flesh to make the first scar. He'd just awoken after months of sleep and changes under the Doctor's care and panicked and his magic, volatile and wild, had exploded the nurse hovering above him all over the two of them. It was the first memory he had of the man – the blood stained white coat of a Doctor and a scalpel digging into his thigh. Up and down , up and down, up and down while icy eyes bore into his own.

"_Mistakes are unforgivable, VII, understand that. Mistakes result in failed missions, the wrong deaths and _your_ punishment. That is a fact you will forever abide."_

It was the first thing he heard and the words had engraved themselves into his head. He knew very little about the Doctor but he both loathed the man and harbored a reluctant respect for him. Because the Doctor was without doubt a genius in his own right and the things the Doctor could do without the use of magic was beyond words.

And one did not spend years with the Doctor without realizing that.

"Wotcher." Smile had sensed her but hadn't expected her speak and startled because of it. He jerked his head up and came face to face with woman. She was older than him, in her mid-twenties Smile supposed, and had dark twinkling eyes set in a pale face. Her hair was short and spiky and a brilliant pink color that Smile took an immediate liking to.

To his surprise and slight discomfort she made herself comfortable beside him on the stair step without further ado.

"So you're Vincent Price, huh?" She said, eyebrow quirked.

There was something familiar about her and it took a moment for his brain to process that it was Nymphadora Tonks he was looking at. He had heard about her, the metamorphmagus Auror who had just begun her career under the paranoid Auror Alastor Moody. He hadn't known she was in the Order, however, which could be the only reason for her appearance.

He nodded. "And you are?" He asked.

"You can call me Tonks." The woman said cheerfully. "I'm a friend of Charlie's. And you know Charlie, don't you?" It was a rhetorical question like her first statement about his name and Smile cocked his head to the side.

"You already know that." He said.

Her eyes sharpened and Smile was curiously reminded of a cat.

"When was the last time you spoke to Charlie?" She asked, neither confirming nor denying his statement.

Smile scratched the top of his scarred left thigh absently. "Five days ago." He said after a moment.

"Five days…" She repeated. "Did you know Charlie's been acting odd ever since?"

"How could I know when I have not seen him?" Smile asked curiously. "Was I supposed to know? I am sorry if that is the case." Smile had sometimes come across this during missions. The expectation of knowing someone's reaction to something that had been said. Smile wasn't very good with that.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Do not play games with me, Vincent Price. Charlie hasn't been himself and the only reasonable explanation for this is _you._"

Smile uncharacteristically bit down on his lower lip and his fingers buried into the flesh of his thigh. "I am sorry." He said, forcing himself to relax under the intelligent eyes of the young Auror. "I just told him about my Uncle. I had no reason to suppose that information would upset him."

"Your Uncle?" She didn't look as if she believed him.

Smile didn't know what to do about the situation, unsurely looking away from her and down at his hands. He didn't like her eyes. They reminded him of Tom's eyes – dark and intelligent with something hidden behind that. Something you didn't want to challenge.

Smile knew that hidden thing was precisely what, one day, would make her an excellent Auror.

"What do you want me to say?" Smile said instead.

"First of all, look at me." She said and he looked up at her in surprise. Her eyes trapped him and forced him to hold her gaze. "Now, I don't want you to say anything to _me_. The only thing I want is you to talk to Charlie and straighten things out so that he can go back to being his usual self."

"But…" Smile furrowed his eyebrows. "How am I supposed to that when he won't come see me?"

There was a spark of mischievousness in her eyes which looked so at home in her eyes that Smile fiddled uncomfortably with his hands. The one who usually looked at him like that was Fenrir Greyback and that had never ended well. "Why don't you leave that to me?" She rose abruptly, took the stairs in one step and swiveled around to stare at him. "Be here in two days 9 pm on the dot. Dress in jeans, a button-up shirt and a wallet brimming with cash – understood?"

Smile stared at her.

Nymphadora Tonks huffed impatiently. "I said, understood?"

"I-I understand?" He stammered hesitantly, eyes wide.

The wide smile spreading across her lips made something deep inside him lurch in apprehension.


	5. Chapter 5

**General Informative Shit: **Yay, for vacations.

**Summary:** Harry is 5 when he seemingly vanishes without a trace. 11 years later a strange young man moves into number 5 Grimmauld place with a curious agenda on his mind and a desperate wish to atone for his sins.

**Warning(s):**It's M-rated, you don't get much more of a warning than that.

**Reader Worthy Info:** ... So, eh, yeah... be good or something.

**Smile**

_Three things never trust in:_

_The maiden sworn as pure;_

_The vows a king has given;_

_And the ambush that is sure._

**Where Smile Meets The Order By A Knockout**

The day after his first meeting with Nymphadora Tonks Smile stepped into the bank and handed over his newly bought wallet and asked the woman to fill it to the brim with cash. She had looked terribly confused by the request, which Smile couldn't understand, and wondered if he'd bought the wrong kind of wallet for this kind of thing. There had been an awful many different wallets to choose from and he was seconds away from requesting it back so that he could change it when she smiled brightly and told him to wait a moment.

He'd been forced to fill out some forms, a cursive _Vincent Riddle_ making its way onto the paper. It had been the name he'd been known as by the Death Eaters – baptized by Tom himself. It was before he'd learned the Dark Lord's real name and the meaning had been lost to him then. Now he felt branded but a small part of him was reluctant to let it go. Vincent Riddle was as large a part of him as Vincent Price was becoming.

He had always liked the name Vincent. He didn't know why but when Tom had asked him to choose a name it had been the first name on his lips. Before that he had been pretty much nonexistent without anything in his name and lived by what he had on his person. Tom had opened up new possibilities for him and Smile would forever be thankful for that.

Tom had found him after a mission for the Underground had gone bad and something had made the Dark Lord bring him home with him that night. Smile had asked Tom about it but the red-eyed man had never answered him.

In many ways Tom reminded him of a vampire. Smile had accidentally mentioned it to Tom during the first week and he had nearly been killed because of it. If it was something Tom hated more than anything else it was vampires and he absolutely couldn't stand the Underground. With all his contacts it was impossible for the Underground to escape the attention of the Dark Lord and though their hideout was practically impossible to find Tom had found it.

So much was evident from his conversation with the Underground leaders.

But Smile knew the Underground. The room he'd visited wasn't even _there._ The reason it was so saturated in magic was because the Underground used it to connect to chosen places all around the world. It meant that it could be anywhere and Smile wouldn't know because the room he'd been led to had been an abandoned basement in some old house in the middle of nowhere. Dray had met him, spelled his eyes shut and led him into it. It was all a game, an unnecessary precaution, and if it weren't for his sensitivity to magic Smile would never have figured it out.

The very idea of being able to connect a single room to different places was just astounding. There had to be a limit, of course, it was a draining kind of magic that demanded that magic was gathered all around the clock. A human would never have been able to support such a thing but vampires, veelas and werewolves operated differently. They had naturally larger reserves. Especially vampires. Being already half-dead vampire bodies were resilient in a way unlike any other creature.

Smile yawned, flopping down atop of the cover of his bed and focusing his attention on the ceiling above him. It didn't take long before his eyelids started flickering and eventually they sealed shut after one last tremendous yawn.

Whatever Smile had expected to come out of the demands Nymphadora had placed on him this was so far down the list that he found himself quite frankly startled.

Sidling up beside Charlie who hadn't looked at him once Smile actually had to struggle with the sudden instinct to grab hold of the shorter man's shirt. With a flush of embarrassment he forced himself to focus on what was going on before him instead of around him.

The giant tent rose up high before him, white and orange stripes racing down its sides. He could hear the roars of lions and tigers, the heavy steps of the elephants and saw the long necks of giraffes rising above the mass of peoples moving around him. It was heavy and crowded, men were selling popcorn and peanuts and things to drink. There were men with loads of flashing lights lightening up the night sky, glittering from the variations of colors.

It was amazing; unlike anything Smile had ever seen in his life.

Nymphadora, who had stolen his wallet minutes before after a brief pause, a crease of eyebrows and a quirk of her lips after sending him a look, was nowhere to be seen. That left him with Charlie who stood steady even in the midst of the moving crowd. The compact mass of people made his stomach clench uncomfortably and he was thankful for the long sleeved shirt he was wearing as he sidled out of the way from a large giggling man staggering violently.

Smile, who was as new to small talk as an infant was to crawling, struggled to find something to talk about. He supposed it would have been easier had he known the source of the change in Charlie. But he didn't. He didn't understand. And no matter how he reviewed his words that evening, twisting and turning them, picking them apart as the Doctor had taught him, he didn't find anything.

Smile knew the second step would be to ask Charlie why he was acting odd and avoiding him. Although he only had the right to ask the latter since the first was something Nymphadora had observed and not him.

Smile rubbed his forehead tiredly.

Rodolph Price. Rodolphus Lestrange. Rodolph Price. Rodolphus Lestrange.

_Uncle._

"Have you ever been to a Circus before?" Charlie asked him suddenly. The older boy, man, glanced at him quickly. Smile saw realizations and deep thoughtfulness in Charlie's blue eyes and wondered what the boy sought from him.

"Not really." Smile barely suppressed a grimace as a woman brushed past him. "I am not really comfortable with large crowds, as you've no doubt noticed." Secretly he thought that he wouldn't have minded going despite that. He remembered aching nights in his childhood after watching the other children clamoring for attention with sticky cotton candy hands.

And Charlie looked at him as if he knew that. As if he heard those secret words inside Smile's head.

"I didn't know what Tonks was talking about when she told me that you'd invited me to a Circus of all things." Charlie shook his head. "But it is clear that this was her idea and not yours, am I right?" The red-head asked.

"She said you'd been acting strange. That is was my fault. And that I had to fix it." Smile told the red-head without accusation.

The only thing that prevented him from jerking away as a hand grabbed his upper arm was that he recognized the touch. The length of fingers, the strength, the very feeling of them as well as the brush of magic was Charlie Weasley. And so he allowed the red-head to pull them out of the crowd and to the side.

Charlie took Smile's hands in his, squeezing them as he looked up at the younger boy. And Smile looked down, feeling uncomfortable in his tall form. His length had resulted in a lot of people mistaking him for being older than he really was. It made playing the role of eighteen year old Vincent Price much easier but it also _hurt._

Who was he? What was he? What was he becoming? What did he want?

The sixteen year old had no answer to those questions. And staring into the soft blue eyes of Charlie Weasley, second born son into one happy family, his future as a dragon tamer already decided and underway…

It made Smile question himself and his desires.

"I must apologize." Charlie said regretfully. "I have been acting unfair and let my thoughts take over too much. I did not mean to let it affect you through Tonks actions." Smile felt uncomfortable with the intimate touch of Charlie's hands holding his. Normally he'd bury them inside the pocket of his pants but instead he was forced to stand there, vulnerable before Charlie's earnest eyes.

"I forgive you." He said when he finally realized what it was the other sought from him. "But do not punish Nymphadora for caring about you. I do not mind this."

Charlie laughed. "Don't let her catch you calling her that." He said with mirth as he squeezed Smile's hands one last time with an earnest smile before letting them go. "Now come, let us find our nymph before she decides to tear us a new one for vanishing on her."

Nymphadora Tonks didn't seem to have minded them vanishing away and as the evening progressed she warmed up to Smile, much to his relief. Charlie threw an odd look at him every now and then in the beginning but towards the end of the night he had stopped completely. One arm slung over Nymhadora's shoulder, the only thing really keeping him upright, he was laughing - completely out of it.

Smile watched in amusement as the deceptively strong Auror hauled him up easily. Apparently Charlie didn't take well to the muggle drinks known to contain alcohol. Smile had refrained from trying – it was one of those things the Doctor had forbidden him from. And he liked to keep his senses to him so this was one of those things he didn't mind.

"Y-you are a _great_ kid, Vinnie." Charlie slurred happily. "A stuck up goodie-goodie shoe but _good._"

"Shoe?" Smile repeated in bemusement.

"I think he's referring to the muggle saying of being a goodie goodie two-shoes or something along those lines." Nymphadora told him in amusement. "I can't remember the exact saying but it basically means that you abide by the rules and try to stay on people's good side."

Smile was really thankful for the explanation and smiled at her. "Huh, what do you know?"

Her eyes flickered with cunning but she returned his smile easily. "You learn something new every day." She said, catching and hauling Charlie away from the fountain he'd found interest in.

The red-head let out a low whine of disappointment. "But look at all those pretty diamonds." He looked adoringly at the drops of water sparkling in the light.

"They won't sparkle if you get a hold of them Charlie." Nymphadora patted his head. "But I'll give you some water when we get home." She rolled her eyes when he burped loudly in response. "I'll probably _drown_ you in it to be precise," she grumbled.

Only an evening filled with sarcastic remarks from the pink haired woman prevented Smile from voicing his concerns. Charlie had made it clear that if Nymphadora actually did end up killing him he had probably done something to deserve it. Smile still didn't know what to think about that but had resolved to trust Charlie on the matter.

"You, Vinnie-boy-," Smile looked away from the dark trees he'd been admiring back to the Auror. "You did a good job today." She spared him a brief smile. "I almost feel bad for doing this."

Smile caught the curling of fingers in a signal he didn't recognize but got the gist of when his senses caught up with him. He recognized only one of them but it was enough to curve his natural volatile reaction. In any other situation his magic would have splayed out violently but he caught hold of it and tugged it back as he swiveled around and morphed his face into the picture perfect face of shock and staggered backwards. Alastor Moody's magical blue eye bore into him and he caught sight of a tall dark and bald wizard he knew vaguely as Kingsley Shacklebolt before the spell connected and swallowed him up.

**- Smile -**

"-ood boy!" The sharp voice of Molly Weasley greeted him as his brain switched on, tired and befuddled but tame and controlled. He had finally caught the attention of the Order and they had decided to take the first step to confrontations seriously. Smile could appreciate that, the Underground operated much the same way. "It was completely unnecessary!" The red-headed woman was saying sharply from behind him and Smile allowed his eyes to flicker open.

Unsurprisingly he was tied to a stool which while old-fashioned still worked wonders. The room was small, nondescript and left no impression in his mind. Smile liked that; it meant the Order was more clever than they wanted the Dark Side to think.

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley." Smile said when she gasped upon noticing him awake.

"Oh, Vincent!" She reached forward, looking him over and smothering down his hair lovingly. "Oh you silly boy, I told you to call me Molly." She said with a wobbly smile. "I am terrible sorry about this entire thing but Moody seemed to think it was necessary." She shot the old Auror a look that said exactly what she thought about it before looking back at him with concern. "You aren't hurt, are you? Tonks, bless her, tried to catch you when you fell but couldn't because of Charlie. That boy! Completely drunk out of his mind and on a mission at that!" She shook her head disapprovingly.

_Mission_… The word echoed dully through his mind.

Along with Molly and Alastor Moody there was also Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks. The woman was looking at him keenly, arms folded as she leaned back against the wall. His eyes drifted to her hair, admiring the pink color. It was short today, sticking out a bit in every direction – _tufty,_ his mind thought in appreciation.

Alastor Moody was short, hair black going on gray and was not only missing a bit of his nose but looked as if a dog had ravaged him. His magical blue eye was sharp and looked larger than the other eye, disproportioning his face. He didn't wear robes like most wizards, a trend he had seen among Aurors. Instead he had black pants, one folded up to make place for his peg-leg shaped like a clawed griffin foot. He wore a black t-shirt and a dark purple jacket. Smile knew he also owned a hat normally, a purple one to match his jacket.

Kingsley was an attractive man – tall and inspiring with a silent charisma that made people look to him for advice. His skin was dark, almost coal black, and Smile knew it made for an attractive smile with rows of white teeth. The top he was intricate yet simple, a black pattern on a gold shirt coupled with black pants made to allow proper movement. The golden ring in his left ear offset his color well and Smile was unsurprised to find himself admiring the man. Tall, strong and in control – Smile liked that. The man even surpassed him in height by some inches.

"It does not hurt, Mrs.-," she shot him a look, "Molly," he corrected himself apologetically.

Alastor snorted. "Cracked your head up beautifully." The Auror said appreciatively. "Like an egg." He grinned. "We fixed you up thought." He added when Molly shot him a glare and shrugged nonchalantly. "You would have been fine if Weasley did his job properly but he never was good for Auror business." He grumbled.

"Which, of course, he told you from the beginning." Nymphadora said dryly from her corner.

"True." Alastor grunted before he turned both eyes to Smile. "You're a wizard." The Auror said simply. "That is why you are here. You are in an overall suspicious position so we figured we'd clear things out and then we _might_ let you go."

"Moody!" Molly said aghast. "Vincent is a perfectly wonderful boy and I doubt there's a bad bone in his entire body-"

"We'll be the judge of that, Molly." The old Auror said grumpily. "We discussed this before." He added warningly when she opened her mouth to give a response. She huffed, gave him an apologetic look and shuffled out of the room.

The door clicked shut behind her.

"How did you know?" Smile asked curiously. He had wanted them to find out, of course, but they had surprised him.

"Muggle." Nymphadora said from the back of the room and he transferred his gaze to her. "Through the evening I mentioned the word 'muggle' at least five times but you never reacted to it or asked about it which means you already knew what it meant."

"It is very typical for wizards and witches who have grown-up around the word to miss it which means that in all likelihood you are a half-blood or a pureblood." Kingsley said in a deep pleasant voice.

For the sake of his background Smile already had an answer for what Vincent Price was. "Half-blood." He shrugged, as if it was old-news. "My mom was a witch and my dad a muggle." It was actually Tom's story but it was familiar enough that it wouldn't feel odd to use it as his own.

"Which side of the family was your uncle related to?" Alastor grunted.

"Mom's." Smile said easily. "He's a pureblood." He added, because he knew they wanted to know.

"And his name is Rodolph Price." Alastor said skeptically. "I have never heard of a pureblood with that surname."

Smile shrugged. "Originally we are from Russia but after moving here changed our name to Price. I am unsure what our surname was before that. Uncle didn't really like to speak of it." He had chosen Russia because of its somewhat volatile history. He had also been there once and really taken a liking to it.

The Doctor had always told him that when creating a background to keep it familiar and easy to remember by weaving bits of truth and things he liked and was familiar with into it. Smile had thought long and hard when creating his background but he had never been very good at it and sometimes missed obvious things. Like the name of his Uncle, and his parents- come to think of it.

He hoped they didn't ask.

Alastor grunted and a sharp look from the Auror made Smile aware that he was skeptic to his story. "Where did you go to school?" Nymphadora asked, stepping forward to look at him properly. "I know you didn't go to Hogwarts nor did you go to Beauxbatons. Durmstrang, perhaps? Or Salem?"

Smile shook his head. "I am homeschooled." He said, because it was true in a sense. He had never gone to school and Bellatrix as well as the Doctor and Rodolphus to an extent had taught him all he knew in his youth. Tom had then deepened his knowledge of the Dark Arts and introduced him to the many-a interesting things magic could do. The only thing Smile was good at, however, was animagus transformations – Tom had even called him _gifted_. Unlike most wizards and witches he didn't have one animagus form; in fact he didn't _have_ an animagus form. Nothing he could claim was_his_like the way Rita Skeeter turned into a beetle and Minerva McGonagall into a tabby cat.

He couldn't turn into just _anything_, however, some animals were harder than others. He couldn't look at an animal and think; "I want to be _this_" because his magic adapted and changed and made him into an _approximation_ of the animal. His smoothest transitions were to anything scaly, preferably a tiny black lizard which was almost _easy_ to turn into, and he guessed it had something to do with the dark thing inside of him.

He already had a scaly tail and ears and he knew very well what his other form looked like.

"Charlie thought you might be." Nymphadora nodded thoughtfully.

"Why did you move here?" Alastor demanded brusquely.

Smile blinked innocently and tried that lopsided smile Dudley Dursley had reluctantly agreed was the only good attempt at a smile he had. "It was cheap." He said brightly which made Nymphadora snort in amusement. Kingsley let out a rumbling laugh that made Smile look up at him.

"As good a reason as any." Kingsley's eyes crinkled when he smiled and his teeth were as brilliant as Smile had imagined.

**- Smile -**

"There is something not quite right about that Price boy." Moody grumbled during a small meeting between Tonks, him, Charlie, Kingsley and Albus that evening. "A Russian background that makes it impossible to connect him to a family, a most likely abusive Uncle… Aunt completely out of the picture and then his sudden move _here?_" The old grizzled Auror grimaced in displeasure. "It is just _too_ perfect." He muttered.

"I agree that he's keeping a lot of things to himself." Charlie said contemplatively. "But I don't think it's out of any maliciousness."

"I got the same feeling." Tonks said before Moody could snap something out at her friend. "He's a strange guy alright, though. Completely out of sorts with social interactions. I know you warned me," she threw a look at Charlie, "but I didn't actually think he'd be _that_ out of sorts with things. He actually thought I'd hurt you when we bantered about it!"

"He's not very good with sarcasm and irony." Charlie snorted at the understatement. "But at least he's getting there. _Slowly._ It really makes me wonder about how he grew up."

"But you do not think he's a danger to the Order?" Albus asked carefully.

**- Smile -**

Smile watched curiously as Alastor poked and prodded his inner left wrist and finding nothing but the VII carefully inked there grunted and took a step back with contemplative eyes.

"Not marked." Charlie said with relief. "Well, not by the Dark Lord at least." He eyed the roman number speculatively.

"Kid!" Alastor barked and Smile jerked to attention reflexively. "What's your opinion of _Voldemort_?" The name made Charlie wince and Nymphadora tense up reflexively.

Smile bit down on his lip and his mind flickered with memories of chains, black covers and his own muffled screams. The helplessness, the pain, the raw hatred boiling violently inside of him and tipping him over the edge. The utter _betrayal_ of a man he had come to regard so dearly…

"I can't stand him." Smile bit out bitterly.

**- Smile -**

"He seems to be harboring a deep hatred for Voldemort." Kingsley said, remembering the flash of deep bitterness in the boy's eyes. "It is likely that Voldemort has done something that directly influenced him or someone he held dear."

Albus gave a bone weary sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "Already the war is creeping up on us violently. The Ministry is a two-front of people working against each other instead of preparing for Voldemort and our Order is much too small to take care of it on our own."

"We need more recruits." Alastor grumbled.

Charlie's eyes flashed with an idea that didn't even have time to form on his lips before Tonks was upon him. "Nu-huh, Charlie – remove that idea immediately! We are not recruiting Vincent for this." She shook her head quickly.

"But come on! He's not on V-Voldemort's side," he coughed out the name, "and it's like Mad-Eye said – we need more recruits! But how are we supposed to get any when we are afraid to take a chance?" He looked pleadingly at Dumbledore.

"He is eighteen." Kingsley said calmly. "And while his education might be questioned it is likely that he has an understanding of the pureblood society."

"Speculations." Moody said reluctantly. "But not without ground. Keep your friends close and enemies closer, I say." His magical eye swiveled in the direction of the upper floor where Vincent slept deeply in a magical induced sleep.

**- Smile -**

Smile found it terribly boring to fake sleep. Most things that hit him from a wand worked perfectly, sometimes _too_ perfectly and often with explosive aftermaths that never ended well for him. But potions never worked properly and he woke up much earlier than the potion they gave him was supposed to run out. This didn't leave him much of a choice but to lay there and pretend he was still out of it, eyes closed, breath even and heartbeat slow.

Smile hated that he was bored. It was extremely rare for him but he supposed the lurking anxiousness about his plan made him impatient and that in turn made him bored when things weren't happening.

Oh dear, he was even making excuses for himself. The Doctor _hated_ when he made excuses for himself.

Smile shifted slightly, let out a sigh and then started counting down from a thousand as he buried his face in the pillow.

**- Smile -**

"So we all agree that extending an invitation to Vincent Price is the best way to go?" Albus asked as he looked between some of his best members. He admitted to himself that he was slightly curious about meeting this Vincent and withheld his opinion on the matter. Strategically he agreed with Alastor and he trusted the old Auror implicit.

The agreement was made and Albus leaned back in his chair as Kingsley left to fetch the boy. They could have easily used magic to carry him but Kingsley was rather peculiar about magic in some ways and didn't believe in using it for such simple things that could be done by hand. Albus admired that and he looked on in curiosity as the large man carried a tall, thin young man into the room and deposited him into the chair carefully.

He was young, Albus notices immediately, and his face relaxed with sleep. His hair was long black and messy with a distinctive green bandana with round smiling faces drawn in white on it encircling his head with strands of hair sticking up rebelliously. He looked unhealthy, his entire being way too slim and with long fingers, arms, legs and feet it only intensified the look. It was impossible not to notice that he had had too little food growing up, stretched thin as he was with not an ounce of fat on his body or in his face. He wore typical muggle clothes, comfortable and easy to move in Albus noted.

There was something familiar about the boy, Albus thought as he looked into the sleeping face of Vincent Price. But he couldn't put his finger on it.

"I gave him the potion upstairs." Kingsley said as he balanced Vincent on the chair to make sure he didn't tip over. "He should wake up any moment."

And as his eyes fluttered open Albus was startled to see green eyes in such a strong color that he had only seen their likeness in the face of Lily Potter. One of them shut reflexively, the other squinted up at him in awe. "You're Albus Dumbledore." Vincent whispered, as if he couldn't believe it as both eyes opened wide.

Albus chuckled at the innocent way the boy looked at him. "That I am, indeed." He said warmly. "And you are Vincent Price."

The boy nodded. "I would apologize for falling asleep but I do not think that it was I who did so voluntarily." Vincent said and Albus was surprised to note that there was no accusation in the vivid green eyes staring up at him. "I hope that I have not overstepped something I should not have, well… overstepped." He fiddled, looking up at Albus. "I do not really want to move again. Bill and Charlie made my house really, really nice." Vincent said, looking over at Charlie who grinned at the admission.

"We made his room pink." Charlie said happily. "Pink and white and soft and fluffy." He said, mainly to Albus and Kingsley.

"Sounds wonderful." Albus said, eyes twinkling.

Vincent Price was a strange boy no doubt- he spoke oddly, almost carefully. As if he took a moment to contemplate the way he worded his sentences but there was never a pause to indicate such. He brushed the surface thoughts of the boy's mind, feeling an almost overpowering curiosity and need to understand. There were other feelings but Albus didn't go further.

"I, or rather we," Albus said to the green eyes and the boy cocked his head to the side to show he was listening, "would like to extend an invitation to you."

"Me?" The boy echoed. "Why me? And what kind of invitation?"

"Say, have you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix?" Albus asked carefully.

Vincent grew quiet and looked contemplatively up at the elderly wizard. "I have." He said simply. "My… Well, my Uncle spoke of it. It's a resistance group under your command that fought against the Dark Lord Voldemort during his first uprising." He said this as if it was obvious and Albus liked the honesty of the answer. He also noted that the boy wasn't afraid of saying the name which surprised him but also pleased him.

"Brr." Charlie faked a shudder. "How can you say his name so easily?"

Vincent looked honestly puzzled by the question. "It is just a name." The boy said, eyebrows creasing. "What comes from fearing a name but more fear for the individual in question? I never understood it. Would that not be like giving Voldemort power over you?" Vincent asked Charlie earnestly.

Albus chuckled appreciatively as the red-head blushed. "Very true, my boy. Very true. Now, what do you say? Would you like to join the Order?"

"Are you sure you want me to join?" Vincent looked up at Albus through strands of black hair. "I am not sure what good I would be. I am not very good with a wand." He said regretfully.

Albus smiled warmly at the boy. "We can all contribute to a better world in different ways. You don't need to be powerful in magic to do so." He said simply, honestly, because it was what he believed.

"Well… If you are sure." The boy's mouth dipped into a lopsided grin. "Then count me in."

Albus had a good feeling about Vincent Price.


	6. Chapter 6

**General Informative Shit:** As far as I'm concerned the color pink is incredibly manly and if I had my way all men would wear it.

**Warning(s): **It's M-rated, you don't get much more of a warning than that.

**Reader Worthy Info:** Wearing white socks automatically makes you cool.

**Smile**

_Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door,__  
__Who is it for?_

**Where Only Manly Men Wear Pink**

Smile had never been particularly good with introductions. It might have been because Smile simply never _did_ introductions considering the new people he happened upon ninety percent of the time were some potential victims. Meeting one or two people weren't _that_ hard. They wanted to know his name, Smile gave them his name, and usually it just went from there with them asking question and him answering.

This…

Smile looked over the table crowded with people and wondered if he couldn't dodge out and have them introduce themselves one by one. He looked helplessly over at Albus who was at the other end of the table and who had just told them his name before encouraging him to make a brief presentation of himself.

_Presentation of himself._

What did that even mean? What did they want to know? Smile sorted helplessly through his mind for any kind of information that might be satisfying for these people. "Well…" he said slowly, half-panicking inside. "I am eighteen years old," lie, lie, lie, "and I've been homeschooled most of my life…" not really a lie. His eyes met with Nymphadora who gave him an encouraging smile. "I like… I like my new house," he said truthfully, "and I really like the color pink." He attempted the lopsided grin Dudley Dursley had taught him and was encouraged to see that Molly Weasley was beaming at him.

"Well, I suppose introductions from our side are in order then." A ruggedly handsome man with intelligent gray eyes and an easy smile said from Smile's direct left. His hair was black with a slight wave and fell past his ear but didn't quite reach his shoulders and he had sharp, neat facial features. He had been lunging slightly on his chair but put it down sharply to turn to Smile properly. "Sirius Black." He said with a flourished smirk. "The most handsome out of the Marauders."

"You'll have to excuse him, he's delusional." The man beside Sirius caught him in a headlock and pulled him down. "His ego is growing every day and I'm afraid that feeding it further will cause it to explode." He said with a sad pat on Sirius's struggling head. Smile's eyes widened, staring at Sirius in a new light. "Anyway, I'm James Potter – _the_ most handsome out of the Ma…" The man with tufty black hair and hazel eyes behind round black glasses trailed off then he caught the look of the red-head opposite him. He cleared his throat. "Well, James Potter at your service." He said sheepishly, scratching the shadow of facial hair on his cheek.

"Remus Lupin." The tired looking, sandy-haired man across Sirius said with a soft smile. "The last of the Marauders." His eyes had the yellow tinge of a werewolf but Smile had never seen a werewolf so bedraggled like Remus before. It was like his entire being was being squeezed dry.

"What are the Marauders?" Smile managed to gather enough of his wits to ask the werewolf.

"It's what we were called in school." Remus explained to him. "James, Sirius, Peter Pettigrew and I… but you already know that story, don't you?" It was a rhetorical question and Smile could see many darkened looks around the table. When Tom got that kind of look it was better to stay away. And so, even though he wasn't completely sure of what they were talking about, he resolved to ask someone later on and instead nodded.

"You already know me of course." Molly said warmly. "And both Bill and Charlie." She gestured for her two eldest. Bill smiled but Charlie wouldn't quite meet his eyes and his smile was brief. Smile knew he had been Charlie's mission but he had hoped there had been something more to it.

"_Hope!? There is no hope is this world! Not for the likes of _you!_"_ The Doctor's voice throbbed dully in his head in a bitter reminder.

To Bill's left there were two identical freckled boys who looked as if they were around eighteen. Their hairs were more orange than both Bill's and Charlie's and their freckles almost doubled in number all across their faces. They were both leaning forward to look at him properly, a look in their eyes that Smile couldn't quite place.

"These two are my twin sons Fred and George. They're…" She looked hesitant. "Well, they're quite the jokesters." The one named Sirius Black snorted and muttered something about _revolutionary._

"You can call us Gred," one twin began.

"And Forge," the other finished, smiles identical.

Smile could already pinpoint minimal differences in the facial features and the way little movements were likely to give them away if he got time to mark them out properly. As it was he had no idea which one was Fred in the first place which made the knowledge next to useless.

Albus gave him a wave and Alastor grunted something beneath his breath from beside the elderly wizard.

Nymphadora however grinned at him and tipped her head in greeting. "Pleasure." She said.

"Emmaline Vance." The woman beside Nymphadora presented herself and Smile reluctantly tore his attention from Nymphadora's hair to the blonde woman beside her. Like Nymphadora her hair was shortish but instead of sticking out a bit of everywhere her hair had been pulled back in a spiky backslick that left her forehead bare save for two little strands sticking down and crossing each other. She looked as if she was in her forties, eyes blue and cheeks slightly hollowed.

An old grumpy wizard sat beside her. Hair gray and thinning and showed no interest in introducing himself. Smile caught the sound of a kick and the wizard straightened with a glare in Nymphadora's direction and Sirius made a strange barking noise that he muffled in his palm. "Elphias Doge." He mumbled reluctantly with a dismissive look.

"Mundungus Fletcher."The cheery heap of clothing beside Elphias introduced himself with a hiccup. Gray haired, dirty sunken cheeks, watery eyes and a flash of a dirty grin. Smile got the odd feeling of having seen this one before and it took him only a brief moment before he remembered.

When he'd been nine Bellatrix had thrown him out in a fit of despair and anger. He had wandered the streets for days, already so thin and dirty that he melted right in between the homeless people. Neither Bellatrix nor Rodolphus were particularly concerned if he got a bath more than once a month or so. A meal a day was a luxury and mostly Smile drank whatever water he could get his hands on to staunch the worst of the hunger.

It wasn't the first time they had thrown him out like this but it was the first time he had ended up on the streets in the middle of the winter. He was unused to the weather changes as he was forced to spend most of his time with Bellatrix who never went outside. Barefoot and clad in rags he never really stood a chance. It took his two days before all energy had abandoned his body and left him cold, wet and shivering against a brick wall.

He was so sure he was going to fall asleep there and finally fade away, to be rid of the life. And he had been scared, so scared. He wanted to live, more than anything. He had pounded doors, pleaded with the people to give him something, anything. But they had rejected him, left him to die, while they ate warm food and was visited by a fat man in red with heaps of presents.

"_Santa only comes with presents for good little boy's." _He remembered hearing a mother admonish her son.

Santa never came to him.

He was a small, weak quivering heap of bones that couldn't even survive two days on his own. It was no wonder Santa never came to him. But he remember wishing feverishly for warmth and then…

Smile stared at Mundungus Fletcher, remembering the warm blanket dropped down on him from nowhere. It was thin but the warmth spreading from it was beyond words. He remembered thinking, _Santa,_ as he stared up at the man crouched over him, tucking him in and making sure that he was all covered while he muttered to himself. Finally he had pushed a half-eaten apple into his hands and patted his hair. _"You need it more than I do."_ He had said before hobbling off.

He had hugged that bedraggled blanket close to his chest, crying as he ate the old apple ravenously. The blanket was long destroyed but the memories remained.

"It's good to meet you." Smile dared to say, dipping his head slightly. It was a complete one-eighty from his response to the others and garnered him several strange looks. Mundungus squinted at him before hiccupping again and giving a lazy wave of dismissal.

Beside Mundungus a sallow skinned man looked him over with thinly veiled hate. It was a look Smile well recognized, just as the pulse of dark magic in the man's inner left wrist was as familiar to him as breathing. He had felt it the moment he entered the house, the tiny piece of Tom's magic sealed as a tattoo in his followers' skin. It had been there for as long as he could remember – with Bellatrix and Rodolphus before his years with the Doctor and then surrounded and drowning in it after meeting Tom upon his escape from the lab.

In some members it was stronger than others and particularly Tom's inner circle. The more loyal they were, the more the magic reacted. Smile didn't think Tom knew that, at least not consciously. Smile was just more in tune with magic than most creatures.

He had seen this man before, many times in fact. But he'd always robed, always hiding, because Tom was paranoid like that. The only ones who knew him by sight were Bellatrix, Rabastan and Rodolphus, Peter, purely by chance, and Fenrir Grayback because it was impossible to stay under the radar of someone who knew your scent. Fenrir who was a werewolf had seen him once without robes, placed the scent, and the rest was history.

Severus Snape… the magic in his wrist was strange. Loyal yet not loyal, strong yet weak. It was as if it was mixing past and present together – the overwhelming strength of his loyalty in the past clinging desperately to the hatred in the present. It was complex magic at work, Smile decided. With an added feature that Tom probably hadn't counted on. It just meant that the Death Eaters were more intimately connected to their Master was probably aware.

The woman to Snape's left touched his shoulder and he let out a reluctant sigh. "Severus Snape." He said grouchily.

The woman smiled kindly before focusing her attention on Smile. She was beautiful with her dark red hair, freckled nose and pale skin. But it wasn't what startled him – it was her _eyes._ Because it was like looking into a mirror and seeing the same color reflected. Smile seldom happened upon people with green eyes, nevertheless such a startling vibrant color of it. She wore muggle clothes; a blue turtleneck and black jeans. "Lily Potter." She introduced herself warmly.

Smile looked between her and James Potter, seeing the parents of the Chosen One Near Potter for the first time in person.

Introductions done Albus opened his arms and grinned brightly with a sparkle in his eyes behind half-moon glasses. "Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Vincent Price."

He looked between the welcoming faces and not so welcoming faces and bowed. "Thank you for having me."

**- Smile -**

It had been a day since his induction into the Order of sorts and Smile was in the city, exploring. Being around so many people and expected to interact with them had made him quite ill at ease and it had been a relief to leave the first meeting. Several times he'd found himself wanting to add his own opinion to the discussion but he'd felt so awkward that he couldn't find himself to. Instead he watched and listened and took note of what they considered valuable information and what to ignore.

He'd been informed that the Order held regular meetings twice a week unless something important happened that called for an emergency meeting. His skills would be evaluated later that week to see what kind of help he could be to the Order. Nymphadora had explained that it was mostly a q & a session to check how updated he was with things and whether he had information to contribute with or not.

It was standard procedure; Tom had done something similar during his first week with the man so Smile didn't feel very anxious about it. He had expected it from the beginning and already knew what to show them, what to tell them and what explanation he had for it.

Smile paused suddenly, eyes glued to one of the windows he'd been absently scanning as he meandered down the street. He stepped closer, scanning the turtleneck in the window hungrily.

The color, it was almost exactly the same shade of Nymphadora's hair. A color he found himself constantly drawn to whenever she was in the door and unable to completely forget. It was an itch on the edge of his mind and here it was, displayed proudly on the male mannequin with white slacks.

Smile stepped towards the doors which opened automatically to allow him inside. The store was large and painted in bright colors. Myriads of colors everywhere, stacked high on shelves reaching towards the ceiling with ladders to climb and reach them. Smile eyed the right side and left side of the store, knowing from his shopping with Fleur that one side of the store was usually for men and the other for women.

He looked unsurely towards the left and then anxiously towards the right, realizing that he couldn't quite tell on his own. There were no underwear from what he could see and no mannequins inside the store. He found himself as loss where to begin.

"Can I help you with something?" He looked down at his right to the woman who'd been stacking clothes beside him but who'd paused to look up at him. He placed her around her mid-twenties with bouncy brown curls and curious eyes.

For a moment he wished Fleur was there with him but he shook it off. Smile had never needed anyone before, although admittedly he had never shopped for clothes before moving into Grimmauld Place. All such things had been handled by the Doctor and later the elves. He felt comfortable enough in hardware stores or shopping for food but clothes...

There was so much he wanted to try. Everywhere he could see enticing colors and designs that made him itch to try them on.

He glanced at the window behind him and the back at the woman. "The shirt," he said slowly, "the pink one in the window. I would like to try it on." He said decidedly.

She leaned forward, badge gleaming on her chest and Smile caught the bolded **GINA** before she twisted completely to look at the window properly. She had to stand on the front of her feet, he noted, and wobbled slightly as she reached the very tips of her toes. But her smile was triumphant when she caught sight of it and eased back. "A very nice choice, sir." She seemed giddy. "Please follow me."

She led him deeper into the store, eyed him carefully and then grabbed two of the pink shirts and shooed him into the changing room. He stripped, carefully pulling the first one on but it was too large and would get in the way so he tugged it off. The other one was smaller and more fitted and he enjoyed the warmth of the fabric. He stepped out and Gina looked him over with attentive eyes. "Now, few men can really rock the color pink but you're certainly pulling it of nicely." She said appreciatively.

Smile tilted his head under her gaze, recognizing the look in her eyes as one the Doctor would have when he was in an experimental mood. "Say, you wouldn't be in need of some more pink shirts, would you?" She asked, eyes gleaming. "We have a wide color selection with several different styles. In particular there's a v-neck shirt in light blue that I think would suit you perfectly."

"I suppose." He agreed, knowing he had several hours until his body would be tired enough to sleep.

Smile thought to himself some two hours later that Gina was an extreme shopper with excellent taste. He'd bought two pink shirts, one in light blue another in mint green and one intense purple v-neck shirt that he couldn't quite let go after finding it. They'd scavenged the store, searching low and high with Gina grinning triumphantly whenever she found something she thought would fit him.

He was proud over himself for managing his first shopping trip essentially on his own.

To think that just weeks ago he was lying beside Tom, naked and sated. Unknowing of what life would bring him, what questions could trigger and what right and wrong could mean. The clothes he wore were tailored to fit and everything was wizard garb in dark colors since that's what Tom wanted and what Tom wanted, Tom got.

Smile was enjoying shopping for anything bright. It was so different from everything else he'd known.

Smile liked it. He liked the change, the difference he was making as he listened, watched and learned. Things so new, so foreign.

Perhaps, Smile thought with an extra skip in his step, perhaps one day he would be _normal._

**- Smile -**

Unzipping his pants Smile looked blearily into the mirror above the toilet and wondered not for the first time why he had placed it there as he took a leak. The room was still muggy from his shower earlier that morning and the wet floor dampened his socks. After flushing and washing his hands he took a moment to appreciate the taste of mint as he scrubbed his teeth clean before rinsing and repeating twice more.

Satisfied he checked to make sure everything was in place before strapping on his boots and locking the door behind him. Number 12 stood out proudly where it had once been hidden from his view and he made his way towards it, hoping absently that there wouldn't be so many people there. Albus had said that unless there were meetings few actually bothered to appear. Mostly it was the Weasley's and the Potter's who stopped by since the Order headquarters were much safer than their own houses and they cared too much for their children to leave anything to chance. As Bill had mentioned the youngest Weasley male Ron and the Potter's child Near were good friends and so the familiar kept together.

It was Remus who answered the door, wand drawn. "Answer a quest of honor."

"Freedom for all things sacred." Smile answered dutifully.

It was a nifty thing all things considered. There were nine different answers distributed between the different members but Smile knew only those who answered the same as he did. Nymphadora, Emmaline and Sirius. The password changed every other week and the only one who knew all of them were Albus and those allowed the open the door. Namely Remus, Alastor, Sirius and Lily.

There were spells at the entrance of the door that deactivated disillusion charms, polyjuice and other things meant to hide appearances. Smile felt the spell on his ears slide off but the moment he was inside he reapplied them. Thankfully his hair was long enough to hide them otherwise Alastor would have been on him in a heartbeat. From what he understood Alastor's eye couldn't see through anything with human cells. Otherwise his eye would have been the same as an x-ray machine and that was not the way it was intended to work. That meant his hair was sufficient enough to hide his ears from view. On the other hand it meant that the Auror was basically seeing people naked.

It made him uncomfortable to realize that Alastor could see his scars and he had seen the old Auror scan him thoughtfully on more than one occasion.

Smile toed of his boots, placing them aside neatly. He was wearing black jeans today along with his new pink turtleneck. Remus hitched an eyebrow, wand already safely tucked away. Smile noted with approval that the wrist hold allowed for a quick draw with a twist of the man's wrist. "I see you weren't kidding about liking pink." The werewolf observed.

Smile cocked his head to the side. "Why would I be joking about such a thing?" He asked. It wasn't the first time someone had made such a statement and he didn't understand why.

"Well," Remus said as he led him inside. "Pink is mainly considered a feminine color."

"You mean it is mainly girls who like it?" Smile asked curiously.

Remus nodded. "And because of that men who wear pink are considered, well, homosexuals." He scratched his cheek.

Smile cocked his head to the side. "So because I like a certain color it would automatically predetermines my sexual interest?" He wondered, fascinated because there was no logic to it. Smile had never thought much about sexuality – he had always found himself attracted to personality rather than gender which he thought was the natural way about things.

Remus snorted. "The world is awfully condemning, isn't it?" And there was a bitter note to his words.

Smile nodded absently, still mulling the idea over.

Like Albus had told him the house was practically empty. In fact, it was only him and Remus who had to be there as one of the four who was in charge of the door. "James and Lily are arriving later with their children." The werewolf told him as he sunk down into the couch in the living room.

Unlike his own house number 12 Grimmauld Place was practically black and gray without any color worth mentioning. It reminded him about Bellatrix's and Rodolphus house. It would have been darkly elegant hadn't it been obvious that no one had been taking care of the house for a long time. Number five hadn't been in nearly as bad condition seeing as someone had been living there before Smile bought it up and he was fascinated by the difference.

Remus watched him as he peered around, stepping close to the large bookshelf and tilting his head to read the titles. Some he recognized. Tom had been fairly insistent on getting him to read books once the man had figured out Smile had never picked up a book in his life while in the Doctor's care. Dark magic, some borderline gray and very few on light magic.

Tom had always said magic was all about intent. That even light magic could kill if you wanted to. Smile had to agree. There were obvious ones like the levitation charm that could send people dropping from impossible heights. The blasting spell Bombarda had enough force in it that it could blow someone's head apart. Confringo caused anything it came in contact with to burst into flames, yet it was considered a light spell. Confundo confused people and made the victims potentially dangerous not only to themselves but also their surroundings.

Smile who ever only managed explosions and fires with his magic didn't really have anything to say about it but he found it interesting nevertheless.

"Find anything interesting?" Remus asked. Smile looked over and noted that the sandy haired man had picked up a book from the table before him and had it resting loosely in his lap, pages faithfully dog-eared.

"Some, I suppose." He said easily, stroking the spine of a gray old tome before shaking his head. It was all useless information in the end. Magic didn't work as it was supposed to when it was applied to him and he was tired of learning about spells that were beyond his reach.

Smile sunk down in the chair opposite Remus and withdrew a book from the pocket of his jeans. "Do you mind if I read?" He asked as a courtesy Tom had practically shoved into his head.

"Not if I can do the same." The werewolf smiled slightly. "What are you reading, if you don't mind me asking?"

Smile reached over the table and handed it to the man. It was a muggle book that he'd found on a dusty shelf when they cleaned. Apparently the owner hadn't cared enough to bring them along or they had been forgotten. "Fyodor Dostoevsky, the Underground Man." Remus hmm'ed. "Muggle literature." He confirmed, turning it around to scan the back before handing it back. "Is it any good?"

Smile quickly decided that Remus was an intellectual man. He listened wide-eyed as Remus mentioned different books he'd read. Intrigues and magic, bravery and love mixing together to create adventures he'd never even imagined. "There's especially one muggle author I must recommend to you." Remus said, absently tapping the top of his closed book. "J.R.R. Tolkien."

"J.R.R.?" Smile repeated curiously.

"John Ronald Reuel Tolkien." The werewolf confirmed. "He's the author of the famous Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was in fact Lily who recommended it to me."

"Mrs. Potter?" Smile asked for confirmation.

Remus grinned suddenly and a brush of magic from the fireplace tickled Smile's senses. "Lily Potter is the most brilliant witch I know. Her intelligence unmatched and wit unbeatable." He said loudly as said woman made an awkward twirl out of the fire place to avoid falling flat on her face.

She straightened up, blowing red hair away from her face as she looked mock sternly at the werewolf. "Feeding my ego, are we Mr. Lupin?" She said as James Potter stepped elegantly through the fire place. The dark haired man stepped forward, brushing soot away from his wife's shoulder.

"We've already discussed this Moony. Lily is mine." James kissed her cheeks. "So save the flirting for any _available _women." He teased.

Smile looked at them curiously, noting with interest how different they acted from Bellatrix and Rodolphus.

The fireplace flared again and a dark haired boy stepped out without as much as a speck of dust on him, just like James. His hair was short and messy with a pair of curious lavender eyes set in a face not unlike that of James Potter. He stood at average height and red and raw on his forehead was a lightning bolt shaped scar. The mark of the deadly Avada Kedavra curse which marked him as the boy-who-lived.

"Did you at least manage to avoid falling on the floor this time, Mom?" Near Potter teased as he brushed imaginary dust from the shoulder of the blue shirt he was wearing.

"Just because you two managed it so perfectly." Lily muttered as she tapped her wand against her clothes and the dust vanished in a flash. "There." She smiled before turning and taking notice of Smile who flushed awkwardly under her curious look.

"It's good to see you again, Mr. Price." She said warmly. "I'm Lily Potter and this is my husband James and my son Near." She introduced.

Near rolled his eyes. "Who doesn't know that, Mom?" He scoffed, stepping around her to offer his hand to Smile.

"You can call me Near." The other boy said simply as Smile caught the hand and curled his long fingers around it.

"Vincent, please." He looked up at the adults. "Mr. Price makes me think of my Uncle." He shrugged, releasing the other teen's hand. He was acutely aware of the fact that Near was his age and he had never felt so out of sorts with himself before.

"Feel free to call us by our chosen names as well." Lily said kindly. "Only my students call me Mrs. Potter."

"So, do you play Quidditch?" Near leaned forward in interest.

Smile tilted his head to the side. "No, I have never tried it." He said honestly.

Near's face morphed into one of surprise. "Seriously?" His voice was disbelieving. "How do you survive without Quidditch?"

"The same way you survive without baseball I would guess." Smile said easily.

Near stared. "Dad, we have a non-believer on our hands." He said seriously, turning towards James who had crossed his arms and was watching Smile keenly.

"It is unfortunate." James nodded sagely. "But don't worry son, he can still be turned!" They exchanged looks of determination.

"I can't believe I married one of them and gave birth to the other." Lily commented idly as she stepped over Remus legs and plopped down the seat beside him.

Remus snorted. "Remember when Hermione told them that she would never set a foot near a broom?" He asked dryly.

Lily winced. "Poor girl wouldn't go near them for a week."

Remus and Lily watched as Vincent shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Near took a seat on the arm of the chair and James hovered behind. Quidditch drivel was spilling from their mouths and Remus snorted as Vincent's eyes grew wide as Near's gestures turned wilder. Sound effects were being added and James grinned as he added his two-cents every now and then. Slowly Vincent relaxed as he listened with rapt attention.

Lily watched them fondly. James had always loved children and the death of Harry had only intensified it, causing her husband to turn incredibly protective not only over Near but other children as well.

The death of their youngest had devastated them and thinking about the small five year old grinning up at her with bright green eyes and a gap where his front teeth had once been caused a sharp pang to go through her. Near and Harry had been wrestling and it had turned rough, causing Near to accidentally knee the teeth out. Instead of bursting into tears Harry had grabbed the two teeth in his tiny fist and rushed to show them off. He'd been so excited about the tooth fairy that night, practically bouncing when they'd tucked him in.

But the next morning he wasn't there. There was no note, no sign of breaking and entry, nothing had triggered their wards and the charms didn't reveal that anyone had crossed the doorstep into their children's room. Near had been beyond himself – the twins had been incredibly close and Lily noted the mixture of envy, curiosity and longing in her child's eyes whenever he saw the Weasley twins. He attempted to hide it of course but Near had always worn his heart on his sleeve. Over the years had developed something of a saving-people thing that only grew worse once he was told the prophecy.

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies …_

What was a mother to do when one child had gone missing, presumed dead after years of fruitless searching and the other was destined to kill the mightiest Dark Lord in centuries or die trying? Near had thrown himself headfirst into it and he was turning, before her eyes, into a serious child with a task far too heavy on his shoulders.

It was a relief to see him smiling as Vincent tentatively started asking questions.

For someone so tall Vincent looked surprisingly young, especially with the attentive, almost hungry look on his face as he listened to her child. She had been briefed on his history of course – that they suspected he was the child rumored to have been living with Bellatrix and Rodolphus. Both James and Sirius had been there to witness a dirty, too-thin rag-tag child escape the harsh grip of Bellatrix and vanish in the explosions of screams and laughter of the Lestrange's as husband and wife teamed up and practically blew the street apart.

It was a long stretch, of course. But with a presumed uncle by the name "Rodolph" it wasn't impossible. Lily wondered what it must have been like to grow up in such an environment. Bellatrix was as bad as they came and Rodolphus wasn't far behind. James wouldn't tell her the details of what they'd found in that house but it must have been bad because he was closed off for several days afterwards.

But then, what happened the years after that? According to his age Vincent would have been twelve when he escaped. That left six years of nothing. Six years where anything could have happened.

Clad in a pink turtleneck and black jeans the boy known as Vincent Price remained oblivious to the scrutiny of Lily Potter and the interest he'd sparked inside of her.


	7. Chapter 7

**General Informative Shit:** I wrote this after a ten hour shift at work. I have no clue how it turned out. I will high-five myself if it reaches above decent. I really shouldn't be posting it until tomorrow morning but I am too tired to care.

Tra-la-la-la-la…

**Warning(s): **It's M-rated, you don't get much more of a warning than that. I'm serious.

**Reader Worthy Info:** En-fucking-joy my pretty little horses. If it's shit, do tell me. If don't complain now don't be surprised when the ending slaps you several times, eats you up and chew you into a mess before spitting you out in a slobbery mess of "surprise!"

**Smile**

_That's the remarkable thing about life. No matter how bad it gets, it can always get worse._

**Smile's Pretty Little Secrets That Aren't Really Secrets To Some**

Smile's mask covered his face as smooth as a ripple the moment he registered movement in his house. He frowned as the metal rippled and bubbled into an eerie grin on his face. Magic raced through his veins, volatile as it struggled against his control as he soundlessly stepped through the silent hallway.

There was no sound, no breathing, nothing that would give away another. Nothing but the strands on his arms and neck standing on high end like the hackles of a dog.

His gun made only the faintest of sounds as he drew it from its holster and stepped into the living room.

"You are late." She said simply, flicking a cheap plastic muggle lighter with a picture of Marilyn Monroe on it. It took three tries before a flame flickered to life and she lit the waiting cigar with satisfaction. She looked over at him with keen red eyes. "Well, sit down then." North said impatiently.

The mask fitted perfectly to her face, a white color that was nearly identical to the pallor of her skin. Her short blond hair was slicked back today, a sure sign she meant business.

"North." He dipped his head in greeting as he lowered his gun, careful not to take his eyes of the Underground leader.

"Sit." She gestured towards one of the chairs across the couch she'd claimed and Smile sunk down it in obligingly. He still wore his pink sweater and jeans and his feet were bare and cold against the floor.

She inhaled the smoke of her cigar, tasting it with lungs that couldn't be ruined and didn't need to expand with air. Smile watched the embers flickering at the end of it. "I thought vampires hated fire." He said eventually.

"We do." North said as she blew the smoke out, letting it swirl around them. "Because it is the only thing that can kill us other than the sun." Her red mouth twitched. "I have always enjoyed playing games with Death."

"Why are you here?" He asked, when it became evident she wasn't going to speak unless he willed her to.

"You have always been very straightforward." North said, ignoring his question. "That is what I've always liked about you. You aren't capable of holding up a lie for very long – you reveal yourself quicker than you think you do and then you play right into the hands of the puppeteers." She scanned him thoughtfully. "You are quite handsome, did you know that?" She asked suddenly. "In a very starved kind of way. Don't you eat?"

"I do." He folded his hands together. "Just not very often."

North wasn't paying attention as she scanned the room. "Do you have something to drink?" She asked as she eventually focused on him again. "Something strong?"

Smile shook his head. "I have Coca Cola." He told her. "And water."

"How boring." Her mouth twisted in disappointment. "First thing in the morning, go buy a bottle of brandy – understood?"

"Yes." He inclined his head, wishing idly that he had a paper so that he could write it down.

"Good." She looked at him, the silence heavy between them. She puffed her cigar rolling the smoke in her mouth before blowing it out in a perfect circle. They watched as it faded away. "You understand already that I am here in business." She said, focusing her attention on a spot in the ceiling. "What you don't know is that I am not here per se the business of the Underground. No, this is very much business between two, ah… _friends._" Vampire teeth shone as she smiled.

Smile's forehead crinkled. "We are not friends." He said truthfully.

North snorted. "Anyone else would have been honored by the title." The vampire glanced at him from the corner of her eyes before looking away. "You are right, of course, we are not friends. Not now. Probably never will be. But fact is I would love to count you among my loyal _subjects_."

"I am already loyal to the Underground." Smile said slowly.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Not completely. By all right, I wouldn't be here if that was the case." North hummed thoughtfully. "Of course, you won't understand what I'm talking about or my reasons until you're a bit more… human." She eyed him critically. "That Doctor of yours really did you little favors."

"You know about the Doctor?" He blurted out, realizing he should have denied as soon as the last syllable left his tongue. His words hung uncomfortably between them.

North laughed. "You really are oblivious."

Smile kept quiet, his hands already itching for a knife as his right hand clenched his thigh uncomfortably.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Spirits, one would think someone of your situation would be a bit more keen to finding out the _reasons_ behind everything. Instead you're falling into old habits. An idea that was originally yours has become a command from the Underground and you've gone back to being a lost little lamb. You think you're making progress but truth is it is all illusions of comfort." She said with voice clipped with clinical truth. "You think a house and clothes are _progress._ You've been invited to the Order but they don't trust you, in fact – you're only there because they want to keep an eye on you. Keep your friends close and enemies closer and all that."

Smile stared at her, pale and wide-eyed.

North snorted. "Disgusting." She said, her mouth curling as if tasting something particularly sour. "You're fucking _disgusting_." She rolled the word in her mouth like the smoke from her cigar. "There's so much potential. So much was given to you after you were stripped clean and you're doing nothing with it. You're moping around after being fucked by a monster who wanted you for your power. As if that outcome was a fucking _surprise_. And now you're dedicating whatever pathetic remains of yourself to extract revenge. Is that your sense of glory? Of life? Have the last couple of weeks taught you nothing?"

Smile struggled with her words, feeling helpless before the age old woman. "Then what am I supposed to do?" He demanded. "I am doing the best I can!"

"Excuses." She scoffed. "But I am not here to argue with a blind little boy."

"Bu-" She bared her teeth in warning when he made to protest and he stilled, instincts kicking in to obey the creature he'd sworn himself to.

"I knew who you were the moment you stepped into our room." She said with a smile that looked entirely out of place. "The little bastard-boy who landed smack dab into the hands of the Doctor who had a lot of fun with him." She said mockingly. "I knew the Doctor of course, and I found your files in his rotten hands. It was I who convinced the Underground to track you down after I found you already cock-deep in the arms of fucking-Voldemort."

She laughed mirthlessly. "Spirits, life is fucking with me again." She shook her head. "Boya, listen well and listen good." She demanded and Smile stilled as her powers curled around him, ensnaring him against his will. "There's something going on behind the scenes that won't end well for anyone. Least of all for you. In fact, I would be surprised if you got out of this mess you've gotten yourself into with whatever remains of humanity you're clinging to. I've tried to be patient but you've got to be the thickest human I've ever met." She had been leaning forward but now she sunk back, right leg rising to cross the left elegantly as she studied him. "Fuck." She sighed. "Fuck, me – I'm fucking screwed. _You _are screwing with me."

Smile remained silent, staring. He didn't think he'd ever felt this lost. He wished she'd explain to him but her patience was long gone. Even he could see that.

"See, here's the deal." She said slowly. "You are going to start working for me."

"You just insulted me for following the orders of the Underground." Smile said immediately.

North gave him a searching look. "I see you managed to get something out of it." She looked pleased with herself. "Nevertheless, you don't really have a choice in this matter. Either you report back to me or whatever gold nuggets I've got on you will land in the wrong hands before you can wipe that slow look off your face."

Smile curled his hands, fear surging through him. He looked into the hands of the vampire and knew himself to be as trapped as a mouse in the paws of a cat. Until he revealed himself to the Order and explained his past to them after gaining enough trust to make them not kill him on the spot he was essentially helpless to do anything about her. Unless he decided to abandon his idea to kill Tom but…

Smile looked down at his hands, white and spidery long. Hands not unlike that of Tom. The older man had often stated how alike they were, how Smile reminded him of his younger self. He remembers how he used to love it, preening under the care of the strongest Dark Lord in centuries. There had been no one by the like of Tom Riddle since Salazar Slytherin met his end in madness and deceit.

Years of dark Lords and Ladies rising and falling.

Tom was the first to come back after finding himself _dead_. Not even Grindelwald had managed such a thing. Smile had felt special in his care. Strong, different – something more than a simple lab project.

But he wasn't. Not really.

The VII on his inner left wrist pounded in time with his heart. Reminding him of what he really was. Smile, Vincent Price, Vincent Riddle – even his years as Freak under the care of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange were nothing but lies. Names given and used without really defining him.

Smile was the only title he had ever felt he'd made himself right to use. Because he fought to became it. But VII was what he had been_ made to be_. And he couldn't escape that, no matter how he wished.

But he'd thought only he and the Doctor and the centaurs to an extent knew just what lurked in his past.

He wondered if she knew about the monster inside of him. About the creature. If she knew, just how could she stand to be so relaxed before him. Didn't she know it could rip her apart in a heartbeat? It had killed vampires before – it was strong, frighteningly so. She wouldn't stand a chance against it.

Inside of him something dark and mean stirred to life.

Could he kill her now? Get rid of her and her knowledge. Rid her off her demands. It would simply be another step towards freedom. The death of one creature, what did it really mean in the long run?

His heartbeat slowly increased.

Smile had never killed someone for his own gain before. The creature, Bellua, had. But it wasn't the same. They weren't the same. His kills weren't the monsters and the monster's kills weren't his.

_Kill her._

Red eyes bore into his, eerily reminding him of the eyes of Tom Riddle.

_She's threatening you. Are you really going to let her get away with that?_

The same fiery pits of dark promises flickering in a hellish depth of blood.

_She's threatening to tear your entire life apart. You would have to rebuild it. Again. Somewhere far away. And Tom would get away with what he did to you._

Behind the mask his teeth pulled back in a snarl as they sharpened like needles. Nails darkening and sharpening, a tail curling out from the end of his tail bone and ears lengthening as black crawled slowly across pale skin like ink shadows.

_Don't be weak._

Smile clenched his hands desperately to hide the changes.

_Are you just going to lie there like a dog? Like you did when Tom fucked you? Mouth shut and tears weeping._

He couldn't hear anything over the pounding in his ears. He could see her lips moving; see the promises, her tongue sweeping across rose red lips to taste the promise of victory. She was rising and golden eyes glued to her back as she made to leave.

_Do something!_

The star bled away from his forehead and burned to life in his eyes, twisting the pupil into five sharp points inside a sea of gold.

"_**Tear her flesh apart!"**_ The voice that left his mouth was nothing short of a dark rumble from the depth of a skinny chest painted black with scales slowly crawling out off the pores.

She twisted around, fast – _so fast._

She had nothing on the monster.

Smile watched from the prison of flesh that suddenly was beyond his control. Felt the changes, the rage and anger that clouded everything into a hazy cloud of red licking at the edges of his consciousness.

Felt her flesh tear beneath his fingertips.

Hands scrabbling at the floor, desperately tearing at the wood as sweet red lips suddenly sung words of forgiveness as limbs were slowly torn from a writhing body.

"_Even vampires bleed._" His brain whispered as her skull cracked open and life seized suddenly. Like the flick of a lamp her eyes died out and Smile returned violently to his body, staggering backwards in shock as Bellua was forcefully slung back inside him.

_Hmph._ _Too little time. _

Covered in gore Smile stared at one of the six leaders of the Underground. Dead. In his house. Because he'd lost control.

_Next time, give me something fun to play with._

The monster demanded before its consciousness faded away deep inside of him.

Smile sunk down on the floor, unable to comprehend the absolute mess he'd gotten himself into.

"That is one bet in my favor." A voice observed clinically from behind him.

Smile tripped over his own feet in his haste to get away from it. "Lyre." He gasped, sharply. He was surprised by his own reaction, by the feeling in it. His eyes found the other beside him and Smile felt his entire world shift. "N-North." His head snapped towards the dead body, finding that it was already losing its features, turning blank as blond hair fell to the floor.

A Goblin.

He'd been duped.

"Indeed." North hum'ed. "Didn't think he'd be stupid enough to try and kill me." She gazed at the goblin. "I find myself vaguely disappointed." She said airily.

Smile didn't know how to react. He had never been in a situation quite like this before and he was coming up short.

"Was it all-"

"True?" Lyre asked as he glared at the teen in disgust. "That you even need to ask – it's your own damn history. I think you of all people should have a grasp of it."

"I didn't mean that," Smile said immediately – not liking the look in Lyre's eyes, "I meant the other part about-"

"About us wanting your help?" North finished his sentence. She snorted. "Don't flatter yourself child." She drawled. "See, this isn't about things like _help _or _favours._ It's about you doing your _duty_ and your duty just so happens to be to _us_." She made a vague gesture to the two of them.

"You mean the Underground?" Smile asked unsurely. "Because I told you I already am-"

Lyre groaned loudly. "It should be illegal to be this slow."

"True, my dear." North said dispassionately. "He's exceptional unperceptive."

"Smiley dear," Lyre said with a grin that twisted the words into something foul, "I hate to _actually_ spell things out for you but you seem entirely unable to grasp what's being painted in white letters before you. See, you did a _good_ job hiding the Voldemort thing from us. Goblin-North _lied_ when she said she knew everything about you from the start. We actually knew very little until I happened to find the rotten corpse of a scientist clutching your files in a _death-grip_." Lyre's grin twisted in enjoyment. "We have come to the realization that you are very good at keeping secrets as long as you _actually_ want to keep them."

"And we aren't about to give you much of a choice." North added before Lyre could get in full-swing of his speech.

He shot her a wounded look. "Really, North – right in the middle?"

"You were winding yourself up." She pointed out dispassionately.

Lyre huffed before turning back to Smile. "We are the Underground, you work for us – but you also work for _us."_

Smile struggled to understand and Lyre let out an annoyed sigh. "Illegal." He muttered with a roll of his eyes. "North and I," he said slowly, "are doing a little side-project which should stay between the _three_ of us."

"But you just said that you and North-"

"Smiley," Lyre interrupted, "you're not making it easy for me to letting you stay alive." He bit out between clenched teeth.

North rolled her eyes. "You are our _meal ticket_."

"It means that if shit hits the fan _you_ are going to take the blame." Lyre said slowly.

Smile stared at them, struggling to come up with an appropriate emotional response while his mind fought with the information.

He felt strangely… empty.

"What is it that you are planning on doing?" He asked after a moment.

"Smiley, Smiley – " Lyre said mockingly, "almost there but not quite."

"It's a matter of what _you_ are planning on doing." North supplied helpfully.

"And don't try to pull that monster-shit again." Lyre warned. "We aren't the top notch for nothing. We _will_ kill you and then you can't have your _precious_ little revenge."

Smile remained silent, Bellua deep asleep inside of him. Completely ignoring him.

"You see, there's this… _prophecy_ that was made some sixteen years ago proclaiming little Nathaniel Potter as the hero of _something_ but that's just the thing, we don't actually know the content. Only Dumbledore and the Potters and supposedly Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are aware of it." Lyre explained. "All we know is that it managed to kill your little fuck-buddy who then managed to get his body back and now history is building up towards a _wonderful_ climax and we want to know what it's all about."

"It doesn't have to be about Nathaniel at all." North inserted before Lyre could go off on a tangent. "There were two Potter boys. Little Nathaniel and little Harry James who conveniently dropped off the face of the earth when he was between four and six years old – they weren't very forth coming with the info." She looked incredibly displeased by this.

"And you want me to find the prophecy?" Smile asked after a fair few moments where none of them looked forthcoming with any more information.

"Want? Oh Smiley, you don't have a choice in this." Lyre cooed. "You are _going_ to get the prophecy of we are going to screw your life over nine times to hell." His red eyes gleamed with liquid dark promises. "And I'm not talking about death… Oh, no – not for a long time."

"I…" Smile flexed his hands, nails still black but no longer sharp. "I understand." He said.

"Good." Lyre practically cooed. "Do not doubt me when I say I will enjoy keeping an eye on you." Red eyes bore into green before green relented and averted their gaze elsewhere.

"Does it have a name?" North asked out of the blue. Both Smile and Lyre turned to look at her. "The monster, I mean."

Smile hesitated. "The Centaurs calls it Bellua."

"Hellkite… Appropriate" North mumbled to herself. "To think we actually got a glimpse of one of your pretty little secrets."

**- Smile -**

Getting rid of the body of a goblin was considerably easier than getting rid of a human's. But actually getting it out of his house so that he could burn it to ashes turned out to be a problem when living five doors down the Order of the Phoenix who no-doubt would find a body-bag suspicious.

The owl didn't make it any easier.

Smile had discovered it some hours after North and Lyre had left his house. A white owl with wings dotted with black, like splattered ink. Its eyes yellow and narrowed where it sat on top of the lamp, idly watching.

Ten hours later it was still there.

Twenty-four and it showed no signs of moving.

Thirty-five it left.

Thirty-six it was back with a mouse dangling in its beak.

Two days after its arrival Smile closed the door to his house and planted himself outside it and stared back at the bird as he contemplated the decomposing goblin carcass currently propped up in his bottom floor bathroom.

"Did they send you here?" He asked the owl when no new ideas were forthcoming. He wore a yellow shirt today, a v-neck that made him look particularly emancipated. The day before he wore a white one. He would try black tomorrow.

Owl colors, his mind supplied as he looked out his room the morning the day before and golden eyes captured in a white fluffy face stared keenly back at him.

"I do not have any food for you." He told the owl as he dug through the pockets of his cargo shorts – a dark blue pair which he was particularly fond of thanks to the excessive amounts of pockets.

He wore no shoes or socks.

Smile pulled out a half-eaten package of milk chocolate and broke a piece off and popped it into his mouth.

He imagined the owl glaring at him, wanting the chocolate for itself. "Well," he said as he chewed it with satisfaction, "you are not getting any. Not a piece. It is all mine." He told the owl as he broke off another piece and hummed loudly with satisfaction as it melted on his tongue. "I thought she was kidding when she told me chocolate was the food of the Gods." Smile confided the owl as he licked the back of his teeth. "She really was not." He broke off two and ate them at the same time.

Out and up the owl squawked and Smile paused in his eating to look up.

A surge of guilt went through him and his stomach curled unpleasantly. How many times had it not been he who had watched the Doctor eat a large steaming bit of steak with a pile of lush green and red salad, potato and melting garlic butter through a glass window? Stuck in his own reality, unable to do anything but sit there as his own stomach snarled and grumbled and the monster complained.

He held out a piece of chocolate. "Here," he said to his stalker.

The owl didn't hesitate, launching itself from its perch and sailing towards him to land on his arm. Its claws dug deep into his arm as it regarded the melting piece of chocolate. It turned and gave him a reproachful look.

Smile looked down at the chocolate. "You do not like it?" He asked unsurely. Unfathomable to understand how someone could _not_ like chocolate.

His stalker hooted and gave the back of his hand a hard nip. "I do not have owl treats." He explained to the owl. Another nip, another sharp look. "You want me to get you owl treats?" Smile tried hesitantly. A nip. "I imagine you must be hungry from all that watching." Smile said as he rose and ambled towards the Order house. "Two days and only a mouse to eat. Though you are smaller than me I cannot imagine it is very filling for you either."

The owl shifted, seemed to straighten its back as they stepped through the door of number 11. "Lily says animals can come and go as they wish." Smile told his stalker as he knocked. "They are not affected by the spells keeping the house sa-"

"Vincent." Remus tired face greeted him. The werewolf's sharp eyes landed on the owl and an eyebrow hitched upwards. "A new friend of yours?"

"He-" a sharp nip, "she," he corrected himself, "has been stalking me the last two days."He explained as Remus waved his wand slowly over the head of the snowy owl.

"A stalker owl?" The werewolf repeated with amusement. "Sounds like something Padfoot would do."

"I'll have you know that I am not in the habit of training owls to stalk people." Sirius inserted as he popped up beside his friends to peer at said owl. "Is it an animagus?" He asked, lightly but with a note of cautiousness.

"Already checked." Remus assured.

"Good," Sirius breathed, "wouldn't want another Peter." He leaned forward and the owl snapped sharply at him.

He laughed. "An owl with real character." Sirius said appreciatively. "It must have taken a real liking to you."

"… Owls stalk you when they like you?" Smile asked unsurely, looking down at the owl with new eyes. It suddenly seemed ten times nicer than it had been minutes ago. "I did not know that." He said apologetically. "If you wanted to become my friend you should have just knocked on my door."He explained to it.

"…" Sirius and Remus stared at the boy and owl.

Sirius scratched the back of his neck and coughed to hide a snicker. "So, you have a name for it?"

"Her," Smile said absently as he followed them into the house after rattling off the password. "Do you have any owl treats?"

"I think Near keeps a bag of them on his room for Roach." Sirius mused.

Smile cocked his head to the side. "He feeds owl treats to a roach?" He asked Remus as Sirius vanished up the stairs to check.

"No," the werewolf laughed, "Roach is the name of his owl."

"Is it usual to name your pet after other creatures?" Smile asked in interest.

Remus hum'ed thoughtfully. "I am not sure." He said after a moment. "It happens, but I doubt it is very usual. It certainly isn't the norm." He added when Smile still looked unsure.

"Oh," Smile nodded, "good. I did not want to name her Worm or something."

If owls could look horrified she managed it quite fine.

Remus mouth twitched in amusement. A thump announced Sirius return as the man skipped the last three stairs in a jump. He was holding a bag and looking quite pleased with himself. "Near will not mind if I borrow some?" Smile asked as Sirius motioned for him to hold his hand out.

"Not at all." Remus assured him. "He's been nagging on us to get another owl so that Roach can get a friend. He'll be over the moon to meet your new companion."

Smile held up a handful of owl treats to his stalker. She regarded them for a moment before bending her regal neck and snatching one up.

She munched on it under the awed eyes of Smile as Sirius shooed them out and home.

"I swear he grew up under a rock." He hissed to Remus as he closed the door behind them.

The door clicked shut behind them and the couch was soft beneath him as he sunk down in it.

The owl munched contently on its treats as the trembling hands of a boy carefully stroked her from the top of her head to the tip of her tail feather. "Hedwig," he whispered. "Your name is Hedwig." Golden eyes peered into green. "Because everyone gotta have a name." He whispered, tears brimming in his eyes. "Because everyone _deserves_ a name."


End file.
